Festive sales sparkle at Original Factory Shop

NORTH West budget retailer The Original Factory Shop was one of the star performers over the festive period with a 5% surge in like-for-like sales.

The Burnley-based group – said total sales for the six weeks to Boxing Day were very strong, up 23%.

The private equity-backed group said the results had been particularly impressive because of last month’s severe weather conditions.

During the six week trading period TOFS opened eight new stores, taking the total during 2010 to 31. This year it plans to open another 35, taking its total portfolio to nearly 200.

The company also plans to boost its online offer, which it launched last year, by significantly increasing the product and brand ranges available.

It is also in the process of doubling the size of its warehouse space in Burnley to cope with the rate of growth.

Chief executive Angela Spindler said: “We were delighted with our trading over the Christmas period.  As a business with stores across most regions in the UK, we were undoubtedly impacted by the severe weather conditions, however the combination of our loyal customers still coming out to shop and our ever committed colleagues still coming to work meant that we were still able to deliver an excellent trading performance.

“We saw particularly strong gifting sales in the final week before Christmas as customers chose to shop locally for stocking fillers.

“Over the past two years, we have grown sales a staggering 73%, or 17.1% on a like-for-like basis, and our store network has increased from 99 to 160 today.

“We remain excited about the long-term growth opportunities for our stores, our multi-channel offering and our ability to provide our growing customer base with a fantastic range of brands and products at bargain prices.”