The snowy Christmas weather might have caused problems for many High Street retailers, but one that actually reported growth was Majestic Wine.
In the company’s Christmas trading statement, it reported: “Total UK store sales, excluding VAT, were up 6.4 per cent for the nine weeks of Christmas trading from 2 November 2010 to 3 January 2011. Over the same period like for like UK store sales growth, excluding VAT, was 3.7 per cent.”
In other words snow drifts, black ice and fearsome weather weren’t enough to keep the average British shopper from toasting the season with a couple of glasses of the good stuff.
Steve Lewis, Majestic’s chief executive, said: “We are very pleased with our sales growth over the Christmas period. I would like to thank our loyal customers for battling through December’s dreadful weather conditions to purchase their wine from Majestic.”
Classic French wines were at the forefront of the increase in sales, with sales of wines from the Rhone region up by 20 per cent and red Burgundies by 21 per cent, according to the Telegraph.