The member chains of the French federation for the planning and development of specialist retailing saw their sales increase by 2.7% last month.
Spring has got off to a good start for the specialized retail sector, with business up 2.7% in April on a like-for-like basis, according to the panel published by the Procos federation (260 chains -chain stores, franchises and cooperatives - representing some 60,000 sales outlets).
This trend refers to an unfavorable history since April 2014 finished at -1.2%, with a comparable number of working days. "Particularly clement weather conditions supported activity", Procos points out, with April seeing mild weather with temperatures largely in surplus across the country.
The upturn benefited all consumer centres, particularly medium-sized out-of-town stores (+3.2%) and city-centre stores (+2.7%). By sector, chains specializing in home and personal goods recorded the best sales growth, while culture and leisure ended the month in stagnation, and food & beverage remained negative.
Over the first four months of the year, however, specialized trade remains in negative territory, at -0.9% compared to 2014.
Source: Mathieu Bahuet - Franchise magazine - http://www.franchise-magazine.com/actualite/breves/le-mois-d-avril-a-souri-au-commerce-specialise-9123.html