Home Retail sales slip as Argos suffers

10th Jun 2010 07:05

Home Retail Group complained of shoppers' reluctance to part with their cash in uncertain economic times as it reported a decline in like-for-like sales at both its Argos and Homebase stores in the 13 weeks to 29 May.Argos, the retailer where customers choose items from catalogues, was hit particularly hard, with like-for-like sales were down by 8.1% from the same period the previous year and total sales down by 5.2% to £889m. Weak video game and TV sales accounted for about two-thirds of the overall decline.Homebase, which sells furniture and other home products, saw like-for-like sales fall by 1.4%, with total sales also slipping by the same percentage margin, to £459m.'Economic conditions remain both challenging and uncertain, with this quarter proving difficult in terms of consumers' willingness to spend,' said chief executive Terry Duddy. 'The comparable period last year also contained some strong sales growth and share gains in certain product categories, particularly in consumer electronics at Argos. For Homebase, this quarter represented a good outcome to its peak trading period.'