Warm weather hits Dunelm sales

Revenues have dropped at Leicester-based homewares giant Dunelm with the company blaming warm weather on the poor performance.

For the 13 weeks to 1 October, revenues fell 1.8% to £198.7m, with like-for-like sales down by 3.8%.

The firm’s high street woes were in stark contrast to its online business which saw a 17.9% increase in home delivery sales.

John Browett, chief executive, said: “As expected, the homewares market has fallen due to unusually warm weather and this has correspondingly impacted our store performance over the period given the reduced footfall to our out-of-town superstores. However, we have continued to focus on our value based customer proposition and are increasing our market share in homewares, whilst also seeing good growth in our online business.

“We are looking forward to a stronger second quarter as we continue to invest in extra seasonal space, new till systems, store refits and new store openings. We should also benefit from weaker comparatives.

“We continue to focus on our key initiatives whilst ensuring we maintain our unique offer of tremendous value for money, combined with an unrivalled range and great service.”