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'Drab' Christmas for retail as shoppers save cash for sales
Scottish Daily Express
|January 13, 2026
STORES suffered a “drab” run-up to Christmas as shoppers held out for the sales or saved for holidays or DIY.
Dickinson called for positive action
Total retail sales were up 1.2% on a year earlier but below the 12-month average of 2.3%.
Nonfood sales fell by 0.3% on last December and below the 12-month average of 1.1% growth. Food sales increased 3.1% but inflation played into this and it was still below the 12-month average of 3.7%.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium which gathered the data with KPMG, said: “It was a drab Christmas for retailers. Sales growth slowed for the fourth consecutive month.
This story is from the January 13, 2026 edition of Scottish Daily Express.
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