County shops defy slump
Friday 19th February 2010, 10:40AM GMT.
Retail sales slumped in January as heavy snow blitzed the high street, official figures showed today.
Sales volumes fell by a bigger than expected 1.8 per cent compared to the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The figures were also weighed down by the inclusion of petrol in the official figures for the first time as drivers stayed at home in the poor weather.
The data adds to concerns about the fragility of the UK economic recovery.
Sales by value were up 0.9 per cent from January 2009.
Fuel sales slipped by 11.1 per cent on the month. When the impact of car fuel sales was stripped out, overall retail sales fell by 1.2 per cent. Food sales fell by 2.4 per cent, but the ONS said the cold weather had boosted sales of clothing.
The figures come as bosses at Shrewsbury’s main shopping centres said they had seen an increase in visitors since the same time last year.
Last week footfall at the Darwin shopping centre was up 20,000 on the same period in 2009 with more than 150,000 people going through the doors.
Nationally last week there was a 0.2 per cent drop in footfall compared with the same time last year.
Shopping centre manager Nick Pitt said the Pride Hill centre had also seen visitor numbers on the rise.
“We hope that the boom continues throughout the rest of the year,” he said.
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