Happy Christmas for Booths with record trading figures

BOOTHS, the family owned food and drink retailer, achieved record Christmas results with a like-for-like sales increase of 6% in the three weeks to January 4.

The company, which has shops in Yorkshire, Cumbria, Cheshire, and Greater Manchester, said it had its best-ever trading day on December 23 in its 166-year history.

The company said customers had planned-aherad, traded-up the value chain and had responded well to its reserve and collect service.

Chairman Edwin Booth explained: “We launched our Christmas marketing campaign early this year with the delivery of our Christmas book, which inspired customers to plan ahead and order early. The book resulted in a pre-order sales increase of 22% with customers ordering in advance for Christmas Day.”

Mr Booth said sales of premium turkeys and geese were “robust”, while the upmarket grocer saw good growth in sales of alternative Christmas dinners like venison, Herdwick mutton (up 38%) and three bird roasts (up 65%) over the festive period.

He added: “Booths customers rely on us to stock outstanding and good value food and drink. We’ve been mindful that budgets have been tight and kept prices affordable without compromising premium quality.

“We have a canny Northern consumer base they keep us on our toes in terms of service, price and quality. They expect the best from Booths, and this Christmas we delivered just that.”