Wet Weather Does Not Dampen A Wimpy Breakfast

Famous Brands, which owns the Wimpy, Steers and Debonairs brands, fared well over the festive season, despite the Christmas rush being far later than usual.
Famous Brands chief executive Kevin Hedderwick said yesterday: “It does look like sales will be nicely up on the previous year with real growth of between 4 % and 5 % in December.”

But the holiday season was a mixed performance for the group as inclement weather and a late exodus to the coast meant beachside outlets did not fare as well as those in shopping malls.
Hedderwick said: “Jo'burg took a long time to empty out.” Where the group has a high density of stores, trade was brisk up to Christmas, but slowed for sites on major motorways until December 26, when it picked up. Hedderwick said one of the best performers was Mugg & Bean, which also benefited from the wet weather. Four Mugg & Bean outlets along major routes to the coast “astonished us as to how well they have done”, Hedderwick said.

For other businesses banking on the festive season, early indications point to a better performance in December 2010 compared with 2009, but the gains appear to be modest. Abri du Plessis, the chief investment officer at Gryphon Asset Management, said although retailers had not yet commented in detail on festive season sales, it was expected that food and liquor would have outperformed other categories.

Dennis Cope, the chief financial officer at Pick n Pay, said trading during the festive season was reasonably strong, particularly the last two days before Christmas. He added that consumers were treating themselves again, encouraged by lower interest rates and low inflation. In food categories, convenience and fresh products fared well while clothing and audiovisual equipment showed good growth.

Woolworths said trade over the festive season has been in line with expectations. Top sellers were convenience foods such as the ready-to-eat cooked gammon and un-iced round Christmas cake. Other popular items were toys for toddlers, Christmas décor, crackers, gift wrapping products, gadgets and beauty products.

Source: Cape Argus