Poundstretcher has hailed its “most successful Christmas ever” after cost-conscious shoppers flocked to its stores for low-cost groceries and festive paraphernalia and stocking fillers.
The privately owned retailer said like-for-like sales jumped 10% in the five weeks to 30 December as it attracted 7 million shoppers over the key trading period. Poundstretcher’s managing director, Ian York, said footfall was up 10% as deals on staples such as coffee, tea and pet food brought in new custom.
“We presented products in store a lot better than in previous years and we are bringing in extra footfall with our food and toiletries offering,” he said. “We’ve got smashing offers that drive people into stores and then we pick up incremental sales.”
Like rivals such as Poundland, Poundstretcher sees scope to steal sales from the major supermarkets and last year it expanded the number of grocery products it stocks. York, a former Premier Foods executive, said its Christmas ranges, which spanned everything from tins of biscuits to Christmas lights as well as gifts such as “snuggle socks”, had also sold well. Indeed it sold 1.3m packs of the £1 heavy duty winter socks.
York, who joined Poundstretcher in August, has been tasked with leading a major expansion as well as improving the appearance of the existing stores. “The focus for us is to do what we do best: continue to sell big brand food, toiletry and household goods at great prices,” he said. “We’ve also looked to give customers value on homewares and this breadth of offering is really being welcomed by cash conscious shoppers who shop around now for life’s essentials.”
A spate of recent openings has expanded the chain to 409 stores and following a business review last year it has set a target to reach 500 within 18 months.
Poundstretcher is part of the business empire of Rashid and Aziz Tayub who own its parent group, the Leicester wholesaler and property company Crown Crest. The brothers, who started out by opening a corner shop when they arrived in the UK from Malawi in the mid-70s, are estimated to be worth more than £200m.
Prior to the brothers taking control in 2009, Poundstretcher led a troubled life as a listed company. York said the retailer, which is chaired by Aziz Tayub, was now profitable and debt free.
