I was asked to use our benchmarking project; to see what was happening with the current economy and its effect on newsagencies. This area is a region that has a high tourist trade. The study starts in 1997 and stops at the end of January 2009.
I asked if I could release the figures and was told that these would be okay. Here are our charts with my comments below.
<charts have been removed 19/11/2018>
Magazine sales they used to say were recession proof. If people were out of work, they still purchased them. Clearly this is no longer true.
No surprises here, as gambling has always been affected by the economy.
Papers sales were another said to be recession proof. If people were out of work, they still got them to find jobs. On-line sites have taken much of this away, so it is no longer recession proof.
Stationery sales now in newsagencies do appear to be recession proof. People need stationery. It does not depend much on tourist, little is purchased online plus newsagencies are competitive in price. Sales were stable during this period.
Tobacco, I took out a few shops here as some newsagents in the study told me that they were reducing this department.
I suppose if you are a smoker, you still need smokes. Interestingly here when the other departments went up, this one did not. Government policy will be the big problem here. Not everything can be put down to the economy.
When you look at the charts, you can see the impact of the global recession.
