Charlies Stores has experienced a boost in like-for-like sales of 4.91 per cent during the last 10 weeks of 2019, bucking all trends reported by the British Retail Consortium.

During the 10 week Christmas trading period, Charlies, an independent, family-run retailer, delivered 4.3per cent like-for-like growth from stores, and 12.8 per cent like-for-like from e-commerce.

A strong Christmas trade has built upon over 10 years of annual like-for-like growth at Charlies. During this time, major high street brands such as House of Fraser, Debenhams, Mothercare, Toys R Us and Poundland have collapsed whilst Charlies continues to go from strength to strength. Charlies has increased from a turnover of £30 million in 2012 to being on track to deliver £50 million this financial year. And, in 2018 opened a new 108,000 sq ft distribution warehouse to ensure it has the capacity for future growth.

Managing director of Charlies Stores, Rebecca Lloyd, said: “During difficult times for retail we have seized opportunities and delivered fantastic results. We aim to bring back old fashioned values in retail. It isn’t complicated – offering excellent service and good value every day works for us. We never price high to go low and avoid gimmicks like Black Friday, so customers can trust us.

The existing bricks and mortar retail model is broken and is being propped up with CVAs which are prolonging the demise of many chains. It is time to let new, innovative retailers through to have the space to grow and reinvigorate retail again.”

One of the largest independent multi-store retailers in Wales, Charlies Stores has been operating for over 30 years, offering a vast range of quality products for the home, garden and outdoors. With 8 stores across Wales and the borders, as well as a growing website, the family-run retailer has a SKU count of over 70,000 across departments such as housewares, garden, camping, clothing and footwear.”