Irish fashion retailers report weak sales growth in second quarter

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jul 24, 2017

Overall retail sales increased 1.3% in Ireland in the second quarter of the year, but footwear, womenswear, menswear and jewellery all traded down against the same period last year, according to the latest sales review from Grant Thornton and Retail Excellence.

“Trading within the Irish Retail Industry remains incredibly volatile,” said Retail Excellence CEO David Fitzsimons, with the sales monitor painting a dark picture for the fashion industry as all fashion sectors, including childrenswear and lingerie, recorded declines.

Menswear experienced the largest decline, dropping by 5.3% in the second quarter due to particularly poor sales in May and June.

The jewellery sector suffered a 3.5% decline in sales but showed signs of recovery as the quarter drew to a close with sales increasing by almost 3% in June after dropping by 5% and 6% in April and June respectively.

Lingerie and childrenswear reported sales declines of 3% and 2% respectively, while footwear retailers suffered a 1.8% drop in sales over the three months.

The ladies fashion sector stayed broadly unchanged in April, but sales declined by 5.4% in May. The sector picked up in June with sales increasing by 2.3%, helping to offset May’s decline. Compared to the second quarter of 2016, sales were down by 0.8%.

The Irish IT sector was also down by 6% on the previous year, while sales of consumer electronics fell by 1%. Agri Retail and Garden Centres enjoyed a robust quarter due to better weather patterns.