Retailer in pre-Xmas sales surge

File photo

Retailer dtr is reporting an 8 per cent rise in sales for the October to December period compared to the same three months in 2009.

Sales for the year were up 7 per cent, dtr, the trading name of company Thorn Rentals NZ, said.

The company - which sells and rents a range of products including audio visual equipment, whiteware, furniture, and computers, as well as providing loans - said it was on track for a 40 per cent rise to $3.5 million in earnings before interest and tax for the year to the end of March.

Managing director Mark Spring said the brand had been "left to flounder a bit" before a management buyout four years ago.

Since the buyout, heavy investments had been made in the brand and staff, including refurbishment of all the company's stores.

For the past two years, growth had been around the levels seen in the latest quarter.

"We think right now that there's a big swing in retail back to relationship-based service," Spring said.

It was important to have staff who were connected to the business and able to form relationships with consumers.

There was a lot of a fatigue among consumers, and a growing cynicism that most big ticket retailers seemed to be constantly on sale.

Consumers were wanting something more, and for dtr that was about relationships and sound advice, Spring said.

He saw an advantage for the company, which has 21 stores, in raising its profile, although he said nothing specific was being considered.

"We've had our head under the bonnet of this thing for a few years fixing it, and have done that, and it's now time to, I guess, lift our head above the parapet and tell people what's going on and look for opportunities," Spring said.

If the company needed to raise capital at some point in some way other than traditional bank funding, "we hope we'd have created a profile that'll allow us to do that".

He had seen few details about how the retail industry performed overall during the Christmas period, but he thought that for big ticket retail it would have been disappointing.

Yesterday listed retailer The Warehouse said total sales for the two months ended January 2 were down 2.7 per cent compared to the same period last year, with same store sales down 3.8 per cent.

Adjusted group net profit for the first half of the financial year ending January 30 was expected to be between $51m and $54m compared to $57m for the same period last year.

- NZPA