The July sales figures reported by the BRC hardly represented a ‘wish you were here’ postcard from the industry, but behind the monthly figures there were reasons for optimism.

The July sales figures reported by the BRC hardly represented a ‘wish you were here’ postcard from the industry, but behind the monthly figures there were reasons for optimism.

While like-for-likes in July barely stayed in positive territory, on a three-month basis non-food comparable-store sales outpaced food. It was the first time that’s happened in more than two years.

It’s too soon to breathe a sigh of relief that the high street is returning to any sort of pre-recession norm. That may never happen. But the squeeze may be easing a little.

The three-month general merchandise performance prompted broker Singer to comment: “Although big-ticket discretionary spend continues to struggle, this is the first evidence that the erosion of spending power, which was so problematic throughout 2011, has finally started to ease.”

There were other bright spots. Wet weather meant that footwear was the best performing category in July. No, it wasn’t wellies, but cool, damp conditions did mean there was demand for new autumn ranges. It was a similar story in fashion, where transitional and new season’s ranges sold and there was even a fillip for summer wear as the month ended with warmer weather. Tellingly though, womenswear was the poorest fashion category – a sign that the sector has a long way to go before real health is restored.

And the Olympics, which have sometimes hit shopper traffic in areas such as London’s West End, gave a little lift to food sales at the end of the month and proved a “mild boost” to TV revenues. Extended Sunday trading hours as a result of the sports extravaganza also benefited some retailers.

Of course, many retailers have been highly promotional in recent months. The questions are to what extent sales have been achieved at the expense of margin, and whether the three-month data represents a blip or a trend for hard-pressed general merchandisers.

Until that becomes clear, established winners and those with self-help strengths are likely to remain the most popular stocks.

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