Clothing retailers have been hit particularly hard and trading over the past two weeks appear to have been 'something worse than a disaster', said Seymour Pierce analyst Richard Ratner. The bulk of the trade was down between 10 per cent and 20 per cent, he suggested.
Debenhams' two-day sale a fortnight ago was a 'near disaster', he said, while Next is rumoured to be trading towards the bottom end of the 10 per cent to 20 per cent range.
He said poor clothing sales are partly down to the weather and lack of a strong fashion trend this autumn. However, he forecast that this weak trading period may be down to wider reasons.
He said: 'We wonder whether the pressure on the consumer from higher interest rates, levels of debt, council tax bills and other stealth taxes and fuel bills, both for the house and the car, have begun hitting home.'
General retailers, such as WHSmith, Woolworths and Boots are also thought to have had a tough fortnight. However, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis have been doing quite well, along with food retailers. Furniture and electrical sales are believed to be holding up.
Ratner noted: 'The latest Mintel Survey is forecasting a rise of only 1 per cent in cash terms [this Christmas] and this may well be correct, albeit even more bearish than our own expectations of about 2 per cent.'
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