The boss of baby products retailer Mothercare today insisted its turnaround plan was on track despite struggling to attract Christmas shoppers.
The group – which launched a clothing range from Jools Oliver, wife of TV chef Jamie Oliver last year – said same store sales in the UK were down 5.9 per cent in the 13 weeks to January 12.
The slump comes after a return to sales growth the previous quarter, when UK like-for-like sales rose 0.3 per cent, boosted by Mrs Oliver’s Little Bird range and its value lines.
Experts said Mothercare, which has 269 UK stores, was suffering as it faces strong competition from online retailer Amazon and supermarkets. Tesco last week launched an own label baby and toddler brand called Tesco Loves Baby.
Seymour Pierce retail analyst Kate Calvert warned: “We do not believe Mothercare is an easy fix and brand repositions tend to take longer than expected.”
But the group, which slumped to a £103 million (€123m) loss last year, said the third quarter figures came against tough comparatives last Christmas.
Chief executive Simon Calver, who was brought in to lead the turnaround plan involving store closures and a revamp of its website, said the group had made solid progress, despite a challenging consumer backdrop in the UK and eurozone.
He said the group’s recently revamped Direct in Home online platform had passed the test of peak trading, posting a 0.9 per cent increase in sales over the period.
The group also closed eight loss-making Early Learning Centre and three Mothercare shops, which saw total UK sales slump by 12.9 per cent.