As we rid ourselves of the final detritus of Christmas, the state of retail will be an ongoing topic for 2019. Before Christmas, dire warnings about retail were sounded. The third part is about the consumer, and the increasingly mooted idea that we have reached “peak stuff”. Interestingly, one retailer that does not discount things before Christmas, Next, reported a growth in sales of 1.5 per cent in November and December. There’s also a feeling that’s harder to pin down, and that’s the sense that people want less crap in their lives.

Source: The Irish Times January 07, 2019 04:52 UTC