Homewares giant Dunelm said pent-up demand combined with its summer sale had led to a surge in sales post-lockdown.
The Leicestershire-headquartered chain said sales in July were 59 per cent up on the same month last year.
And in August they were up 24 per cent, on the same month in 2019. There was a 20 per cent jump in June.
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The chain shut its online operation and stores when the lockdown began at the end of March.
In the following months it was able to reopen all 173 stores, while its website went through a phased reopening from early in the lockdown.
Social distancing measures in its stores and warehouses are estimated to have cost the business £150,000 a week.
Total Dunelm year-on-year sales dropped almost 80 per cent in April and almost a half in May, and could have been worse without decent online sales.
Despite the lockdown, total sales in the year to June 27 were £1.06 billion, down just 4 per cent on 2019.
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In-store sales for the full year were down an eighth while online was up 50 per cent.
In a new trading update the business said: “This performance reflects the strength of our proposition within a resilient homewares market, positive footfall growth to our mainly out-of-town superstores and continued strong growth in our home delivery offer.
“Whilst the year-to-date performance has been materially ahead of our initial expectations, it is very difficult to provide any meaningful guidance on the future outlook given the uncertainty in the wider economy and the potential impact of further regional or national lockdowns.
“However, we remain confident in our ability to adapt to the environment and are well positioned to continue to grow market share.”
Dunelm was founded in 1979 as a market stall business, selling ready-made curtains.
The first shop was opened in Leicester in 1984 and over the following years the business developed into a chain of high street shops before expanding – following the opening of the first Dunelm superstore in 1991 – into broader homewares categories.
Its Dunelm.com website was launched in 2005.
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Today it is the market leader in the £14 billion 海角视频 homewares market and a big player in the £12 billion 海角视频 furniture market.
Most of its 173 stores are out of town, and the business employs around 10,000 people and sells around 50,000 product lines.
It was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006 and has a current market capitalisation of around £2.9 billion.