Halfords released their Christmas trading statement on Thursday and pointed to a record Black Friday and a 3.2% increase in sales for the 15 week period to January 12th.
One of the strongest areas of growth was the retail sales of services such as bulb fitting and window blade fitting, up 8%.
Online sales jumped 13% as many customers choose to order online and pick up in store so they could still benefit from the advice given my Halfords staff.
Halfords also gave an update on there corporate strategy pointing to 40 refurbished stores and the growth of their Cycle Republic stores to 19.
CFO Jonny Mason commented on the results:
“We are pleased with the overall performance of the Group in the 15 week period given the difficult UK retail environment. We achieved record sales for Black Friday and Christmas thanks to great planning and execution and compelling product and service offers. Particular highlights included the growth in fitting services for car parts, cycle repair and increased sales of bikes, electric bikes and dash cams.”
Shares in Halfords were flat on Thursday morning up 0.06% at 350.2p. The stock hit highs of 361.8p on the 1st January 2018.
Graham Stapleton started his tenure as Halfords’ CEO on 15th January having left his post at Dixon Carphone’s Honeybee.