Dresses and menswear surge as Joe Browns Christmas trading is robust

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Feb 15, 2023

Joe Browns enjoyed a “robust Christmas”, with the fashion and homewares retailer recording double-digit sales growth over the four weeks to 22 December, it said on Wednesday.

Overall sales for the period jumped 19.5%, underpinned by an outstanding 35.2% leap in menswear sales, and supported by an 8.2% rise in womenswear. Home sales for the period also impressed with a 27% hike.

The strong set of figures was achieved against a backdrop of “external economic factors including the on-going cost of living crisis, which continues to affect consumer confidence”, it noted. 

How about sales for the start of the SS23? “Encouraging”, it said. And while it cautioned that economic pressures would continue throughout 2023, it also emphasised that its focus “would still be on growth”.

Back to those buoyant festive figures, “which annualised on similarly strong sales figures for Christmas 2022”, were delivered across all the retailer’s channels including direct, brochures, third-party retailers (including The Very Group, Next, Freeman Grattan and N Brown), wholesale, and its two stores.  

Each product area saw growth with womenswear, the retailer’s largest category, seeing dresses “performing particularly well”.  In menswear, formal shirts and jackets were strong, and home was driven mostly by bedding.

At the same time, “the business is continually developing its marketing imagery to support e-comm and third-party suppliers”, alongside what it describes as ‘cleaner’ brochures and online execution “that still portray Joe Browns’ distinctive handwriting”. 

CEO Peter Alecock, who joined from JD Sports last year, said: “Against a challenging economic backdrop, the team has gone above and beyond and delivered robust sales in the run up to Christmas. External headwinds will be present throughout the coming year. That said, our focus remains on growth and I’m confident in our strategy to navigate.”