Stax Trade Centres has consistently outperformed the market this spring, purchasing director Simon Wright said this week.
Speaking at the supplier presentation at the company's new Manchester warehouse, Mr Wright compared the cash & carry chain's latest sales figures with other market data.

"The Garden Centre Association data for April show sales up 38% - very impressive," he said. "But our figures for April show sales up 58% in Manchester ¬ ¬- and up a staggering 76% in Birmingham."

British Retail Consortium data showed retail sales up 4.6% year-on-year in April, he said. Stax meanwhile achieved an overall sales increase of 8%.

"And footfall figures from the Retail Traffic Index were up 4.2% in April," he added. "Stax beat the market with a fantastic 16%."

Finally, Mr Wright quoted some department sales data for the Manchester branch for the past two months: paint up 16%, housewares up 23%, car care up 37%, gardening up 58%, and electrical up 68%.