Charity shops enjoy good Christmas sales
Howard Lake | 27 January 2005 | News
In contrast with sluggish sales in high street shops, some charity shop chains have reported very good Christmas sales figures.
Oxfam has reported a 10% sales growth and profit increase of 30% during November and December 2004 for its 750 shops, and Cancer Research UK has reported a 7.3% sales growth in the same period. For Oxfam this means that, after all costs, the shops will have contributed £4.3 million to the charity’s work, an increase of £1 million over the same period in 2003.
The British Red Cross has also reported a growth in income of 4.5% for the same two months compared to the previous year. Indeed, it experienced its highest ever sales for one week during November.
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Oxfam’s Trading Director Chris Coe said: “Early forecasts suggest that high street sales rose by only 1% or 2% year on year this Christmas, so we believe that our results show that we are experiencing a sea-change in consumer behaviour.” He added: “we’re delighted to be at the forefront of bucking the high street’s seemingly downward trend.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.