Summer sales might offer a helpful fillip for clothing retailer Woolworths after a poor winter start to the first 19 weeks of this financial year. The company saw an increase of 8.9% in group sales but a closer look at the company’s divisions showed Woolworths started the year weaker. The company said in a trading statement on Friday that it expected an increase of 2% in general merchandise sales, but, when new stores were excluded, sales dropped by 0.8%. Furthermore, sales growth failed to match clothing and general merchandise inflation of 7%. The company reported that the space allocated to clothes and general merchandise grew by a net 2.9% during the period. Sales for the company’s recent Australian acquisition David Jones grew by 2.2%. But the division grew by only 0.6% in Australian dollar terms when new stores are excluded and the closure of Dick Smith Electronic is taken into account. Dick Smith Electronic ran David Jones’s home entertainment department. Retail space for Dav...
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