Mountain Warehouse posts 16.2 percent rise in Christmas sales

Mountain Warehouse has reported 16.2 percent growth in sales over the Christmas trading period to 95.8 million pounds (125.7 million dollars). The company said in a statement that it also saw a bumper Black Friday with sales of over 2.5 million pounds and the group on track for record full-year profits.

Commenting on the Christmas trading, Mark Neale, Chief Executive of the company, said: “I’m delighted to be reporting record Christmas trading for the 22nd year running, despite the snap election and some economic uncertainties around Brexit. This puts us well on course for another record year and, as a result, we are continuing to invest in more stores, new territories and our online business.”

Mountain Warehouse expands retail reach

The company served over three million customers during the 13 weeks to December 29, with bestsellers including over 500,000 pairs of socks, over a million winter jackets and around a million winter hats, gloves and scarves. Mountain Warehouse, specialising in outdoor clothing and equipment started with a single store in December 1997, and now has around 400 stores in nine counties. The company plans to open around 50 new stores in 2020, creating over 600 jobs.

The company opened four new stores in four separate countries on Black Friday: Sutton Coldfield in the UK; Christchurch in New Zealand; Leipzig in Germany and St John in New Brunswick, Canada. The company added that new store opening programme continued in the period, including new UK stores in Cardigan, Leamington Spa, Sutton Coldfield, Tunbridge Wells and Poole and new international openings in Germany, Poland, US, Canada and New Zealand. The company further said that sister gift and stationery chain Neon Sheep expanded to 25 stores and more than doubled its sales to 3.2 million pounds. It plans open at least 10 more stores this year.

Picture credit:Maitland/AMO