Revenues at Topps Tiles improved at the end of last year after homeowners put off doing up their properties in the run-up to the election.
The Christmas build-up is usually a busy time for the Leicestershire-based tile retailer, with families keen to make their homes look nice for the festive season.
New figures for the chain show like-for-sales were down 5.4 per cent in the last three months of 2019.
However, despite the pre-election slowdown, trade did pick up in December.
Nigel Frith, a senior market analyst at asktraders.com, which links investors with brokers, said the weak trading update showed just how challenging conditions were at the end of last year.
He said: “Trading to a backdrop of political uncertainty ahead of the 海角视频 general election, customers were not in the mood for spending.
“According to the Office of National Statistics retail sales were weak across the board in November and the construction sector remained deep in contraction, as a result the odds were not looking good for Topps Tiles.
“Whilst sales are picking up post-election, the 海角视频 consumer is looking for more clarity over Brexit before spending will pick up in any meaningful way.”
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Topps Tiles, which has 361 shops and four commercial showrooms, previously announced that like-for-like revenues across the first eight weeks of the quarter were down 7.2 per cent year-on-year.
However for the final five weeks of the year, performance improved “significantly”, with the decrease in retail like-for-like revenues reducing to 1.4 per cent.
Chief executive Rob Parker said: “Our first quarter performance reflects the full impact of the heightened political and economic uncertainty evident in the run up to December’s General Election, which we first noted in our 2019 full year results announcement.
“Trading conditions remained challenging throughout the period and, against this backdrop, we ensured that we continued to offer our customers excellent value for money.
“As expected, the retail like-for-like sales decline began to return to its pre-election trend towards the end of the quarter.
“As we enter 2020, we remain confident that our market-leading retail offer and growing commercial operations give us a strong platform from which to deliver sustainable growth over the medium and long term.”
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Recent annual results showed revenues were up 1.1 per cent to £219.2 million in the year to the end of September, while pre-tax profits were down 1.6 per cent to £12.5 million.
Topps Tiles has its headquarters in Enderby, next to junction 21 of the M1, and more than eight in 10 of the tiles it sells are its own brands, or ones that are exclusive to the chain.