Sainsbury's has revealed that an extra two million shoppers visited its stores in the week of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The celebrations created strong demand for bunting and party food. Like-for-like sales (excl. fuel) rose 1.4 per cent in the 12 weeks to June 9. Sainsbury’s sold 550 miles of bunting and 670,000 Union Jack flags for the celebrations. "Customers continued the habit of savvy shopping to save money in order to be able to treat themselves on special occasions, shown by strong sales in the lead up to the Jubilee celebrations," said Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King. "Just as in 2011, the quarter was characterised by five bank holidays, a royal event and periods of unseasonal weather."
The group said it was well placed to continue outperforming the industry. (14 Jun) © 2012 ESM: European Supermarket Magazine
