The Olympics and Paralympics may have kept foreign visitors away from London this summer, but the latest figures suggest the ones that did arrive spent almost double the expected amount. It appears the ‘ghost town’ effect London Games had on the capital may have actually paid off.

Read more…

New data suggests footfall is on the rise after years of decline. Research from Springboard found footfall fell just 0.4 per cent in the year to September, managing to improve on last year’s 1.2 per cent fall. Long term, it’s hoped the flat figures will put the high street back on track after a double dip recession saw footfall drop 5.3 per cent in 2009 and 10.6 per cent in 2008.

Read more…

Although the Coalition is said to be working on a permanent extension of Sunday trading, many retailers remain unconvinced as relaxed hours for Olympics and Paralympics fail to bring in a marked boost in sales. Sunday 9 September saw the last day of the temporary lift in trading laws for retailers over 280 square metres in England and Wales.

Read more…

What a difference a year makes: Looting and civil unrest were a world away from the mood on the high street last week, as John Lewis saw store sales rise 14.9 per cent a year to the week after the riots of 2011. Britain’s biggest department store group and official London 2012 sponsor said store sales rose 14.9 per cent year-on-year to £60.75 million in the week to 11 August, as customers shopped on the feel-good glow of Britain’s gold medal rush.

Read more…

The London 2012 Games gave Westfield “unprecedented exposure to a global audience” with 5.5 million people visiting the group’s Stratford City centre during the Olympics. The Australian property giant has suggested it is one of the biggest retail winners of the event, with strong footfall figures over the last two weeks meaning the group will now be on target to attract 60 million shoppers in total to its London centres this year who are forecast to spend £1.8 billion.

Read more…

Team GB’s winning streak at the London Olympic Games has had a positive effect on British retailers, according to the Guardian.

Read more…

UK retail sales values rose just 0.1 per cent on a like-for-like basis in July, although stronger food and clothing sales at the end of the month suggested a light at the end of the tunnel. The latest figures from the BRC- KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for July found that on a total basis, sales rose 2.0 per cent against a 2.5 per cent rise in July the year before.

Read more…

The sportswear giant’s £100 million campaign for the Olympics is expected to provide another lift to full-year earnings, which are already coming in at the top of investors’ expectations. Adidas’s after-tax profit rose 30 per cent to EUR 455 million on sales up by 11 per cent to EUR 6.34 billion.

Read more…

Olympic merchandise provided a boost for the retailer As the Olympic torch wound its way to London for the Games, sales at John Lewis were also on the home straight, up 11.2 per cent from the same time a year before. Steaming ahead, Electricals and Home Technology experienced a 32.5 per cent rise in year-on-year sales growth, while Fashion also managed a 7.6 per cent rise from last year.

Read more…

Retail employment, or the total number of hours worked, rose 1.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2012, the equivalent of 12,648 more full-time jobs. The latest report from the BRC-Bond Pearce Retail Employment Monitor (REM) compared results to the same quarter in 2011, finding a lift in employment driven by food retailers keen to take on extra members of staff with the summer games and Jubilee celebrations.

Read more…