Sluggish progress

Jul 28 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

CAR parts and cycle retailer Halfords said factors such as the World Cup and political uncertainty had dented progress on sales.

The group, which has a store at Bradford Road in Huddersfield and 462 stores in the UK and Ireland, said retail like-for-like sales fell by 2.1% during the 13 weeks to July 2.

Halfords said poor weather in April, worries about the general election and the emergency budget – and the distraction of the World Cup – meant a sluggish start to the year and a delay to the start of the firm’s summer promotions.

It said core categories of car maintenance and cycling maintained like-for-like growth.