Analysis: Will return to £1-per-item roots halt the slide at Poundland?
Willenhall-based discount store Poundland is set to return to its core product offering with a new range of £1 items, it says.
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The move comes in response to a dismal festive period for the company, who saw sales plummet by 9.3% for the three months to December 31, with like-for-like sales down 7.3%, blaming weaker clothing and general merchandise sales.
Owners Pepco Group, who also own the Pepco and Dealz brands in Europe, say "challenging trading" at its Poundland operations dragged the group's like-for-like revenues into a 1.1% decline despite strong performance from the group's other brands.
The firm has been described as one of the Black Country's biggest retail success stories, growing from a father-and-son operation in 1990 to its position today with over 850 stores across the UK and Ireland, and around 18,000 employees.
The business says it will now be undertaking a "comprehensive assessment" of the company's position in a bid to get back on track, with the firm now set to nearly double the amount of what it describes as "core items", those which sell at £1 or below, increasing the range from 1,500 to almost 2,400 in all its UK stores.
