Easter trading: A time for home improvement Times Online
“We believe people have been holding back”, he said. “They have not been spending on their gardens in that first month [of spring]. There are very few flowers out there, so it’s very early days to say if there’s a broader pattern emerging ... we’re not assuming any help from the market.”
Shopkeepers operate by a rule of thumb that it takes about ten days of sunshine before grass has grown sufficiently to lure homeowners on to their lawns, via the DIY shop or the garden centre. This means that later Easter holidays — last year’s fell two weeks later than this year — are more lucrative, because customers are more likely to splash out on gardening items, plants, outdoor furniture and barbecues.
Fearing a soggy Easter trading period this year, home improvement retailers have stepped up marketing and offers, with observers noting an unusually high level of activity.
Home-related spending has suffered in the first quarter of this year. Topps Tiles and Carpetright have joined the DIY retailers in reporting that trading has been more subdued than it was before Christmas. Mortgage approvals, a key determinant of DIY, furniture and floor covering sales, have fallen this year after rising throughout 2009.
