No such thing as bad weather for retailers

Jul 24 2007 By John Duckers, Business Editor

As the rain continued to tipple down and I pondered when there would be a chance of mowing the lawn, I tried to cheer myself up reflecting on all those who are happy to see a wet summer.

It has been the saviour of Blacks Leisure, the outdoor clothing people, which owns Millets.

I enjoy the great outdoors like most people do, but only when it's dry.

Nothing better than walking in our glorious hills and beside our beautiful coastline, but not if the mist is down and you can barely see a thing, and whatever you do a trickle of water keeps dribbling down the back of your neck.

But there are plenty of people for whom this seems not to matter, and I doff my sodden hat to them.

Out go these hardy ramblers in all weathers; the young frolic in the mud at music festivals.

Camping holidays are all the rage. Not for me.

Give me a comfy holiday cottage or B&B every time.

I have ghastly memories from my youth of a compulsory army training corps camp in some forgotten wilderness - the misery of trying to put up tents as the drizzle chilled your bones, getting thoroughly lost on desolate moors, trying to cook near inedible rations on tiny stoves as the insects bit every exposed part of you.

But some people love all that.

And Blacks is one beneficiary.

Last week it revealed total sales increased by 6.3 per cent in the four and a half months to July 14, a five per cent like for like improvement.

Sales of camping and waterproof clothing were described as "encouraging".

Ironic really, because a few months back it announced it was to shut 45 stores after being hit by the hot summer last year and a warm spring this time round.

And you may also have noticed how department stores have had a big boost by bringing forward their sales.

Pulling the punters in to a nice warm environment from the drenching outside.

Even done it myself.

Popped into House of Fraser the other day to have a look at their sale - I was after a wedding present, and managed to spot something I liked, but also found myself picking up a couple of early Christmas gifts.

Yes, I know it is sad.

None of this will help those poor people who have seen their homes flooded up and down the country.

I have great sympathy for them.

But do we learn from all this? No, we never do.

For those tempted to cut costs by not bothering with house insurance it should be a brutal lesson.

But I don't suppose it will be.

Neither will we stop building on flood plains.

And I can't believe that in an age where we have a national electricity grid, and where we are connected across the world via the internet and by mobile phone, that we are seemingly unable to have a national water network.

The reservoirs are full and all the rest of the water will simply go to waste.

Surely there has to be a better way. No matter, umbrella makers are happy, welly boot salesmen are celebrating and no doubt mugs across the country in posh restaurants are still drinking bottled water.

It's a funny old world.