Although conditions on the high street remain tough, a number of retailers are managing to post strong results as consumers begin to warily spend once more. One such brand is the Edinburgh Woollen Mill, which has announced it will open at least 100 new stores in the next two years amidst an encouraging rise in annual profits.
The group, which is privately owned by Cumbria entrepreneur Philip Day, owns both the Peacocks and Jane Norman brands alongside the knitwear chain after which the wider business is named.
In the year to the 1st of March, group profits rose to £71.3 million, despite the fact that sales fell by almost 2.7 per cent to £551.9 million – a fact economists attribute to an extra week’s trading in the previous financial year.
Peacocks remains the group’s strongest brand, with total sales in established stores rising by 4 per cent to £324.9 million throughout the financial year. Meanwhile, online sales more than doubled, proving that there is still a strong appetite for budget fashion items.
Unfortunately, though, elsewhere in the group problems persisted, with the Jane Norman brand continuing to struggle to attract consumers to its website and the handful of concessions still operating in department stores. Earlier this year, the brand re-entered administration just three years after being rescued by Edinburgh Woollen Mill, with the result that its remaining 24 high street stores were forced to close.
Group commercial director Steve Simpson claims the impressive rise in profits was due to a “relentless focus on product quality, value for money and customer experience.”
He continued; “Alongside a truly multichannel model, continued investment, innovation and strong cost control, the group has once again delivered a strong sales performance and outstanding profit growth.
“We are particularly encouraged by the sales and profit performance of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill business, which has grown consistently to become a category leader in the over 40s customer segment.”
At Edinburgh Woollen Mill itself, sales dipped by £1.2 million to £168.5 million during the financial year, but this was put down to the group implementing a programme of store closures in locations which were performing poorly over the past few years.
Fortunately, a sales growth of 28 per cent at its online division managed to offset weaker results elsewhere, particularly as a fire at one of the brand’s largest outlets in the country earlier this year caused economists to predict a much greater slide than transpired.
At this point, it is unclear how many of the 100 new stores will be dedicated to the Edinburgh Woollen Mill brand, as presumably a number of new Peacocks outlets will also appear on the high street as part of the scheme.
Regardless, it is safe to assume that a number of the new stores will appear on sites previously operated by the Internacionale chain, as Mr Day bought a proportion of the brand’s assets earlier this year following its second entrance into administration in eight months.
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