The Original Factory Shop Christmas like-for-likes up 5%

For the six weeks to December 26, sales were up 23%.

The value department store chain said sales of outdoor clothing, footwear and accessories were strong in the severe weather. It reported record sales of over 100,000 wellington boots, selling a pair every nine seconds of trading.

It recorded two consecutive record sales days in the period on December 23 and then this was beaten by 8% on December 24.

It also reported record sales of advent calendars, with advent calendars for pets outselling human calendars three to one.

In the period, The Original Factory Shop opened eight stores despite the challenging weather. In 2011, it wants to open a further 35 shops, taking its store count to nearly 200. It will also enhance its online shop, and is in the process of doubling the size of its warehouse space in Burnley.

The Original Factory Shop 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.”