Trouble in store for shops after worst year ever
SHOPS endured their worst year on record as the virus crisis compounded already tough trading for many outlets.
Customers bought nearly two per cent fewer goods in 2020.
However, some types of shops were hit far harder than others, the Office for National Statistics said.
Clothing outlets, for example, suffered a 25 per cent collapse in sales last year.
Department stores, petrol stations and others also had record falls.
The sobering data comes after Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia empire fell into administration, while Debenhams is now hurtling towards closure unless a buyer can be found.
However, online retailers have been booming. The ONS revealed internet and other non-store retailing enjoyed a record 32 per cent leap in sales last year.
Supermarkets and those food stores allowed to remain open during the lockdowns also bucked the trend last year, notching up growth of 4.3 per cent.
When restrictions were eased there were positive signs.
Clothing sales, for instance, rebounded by more than 21 per cent last month, before the latest lockdown.
Helen Dickinson, boss of the British Retail Consortium, said: “There was no Christmas cheer for retail as the industry found itself in the firing line for last minute virus restrictions.”
She said that “many will struggle to survive under a mounting rent burden and a return to full business rates in April”.
She added: “The Government should urgently announce an extension to the moratorium on aggressive debt enforcement and offer targeted business rates relief to the worst affected businesses.”