Topps floored by sales slump

Topps Tiles has revealed that consumers are becoming more “selfish” in their approach to sprucing up their homes, as it suffered a deterioration in sales and a sharp fall in first-half profits.

Chief executive Matthew Williams said as property prices stayed subdued and housing transactions remained at just over half their 2007 levels, shoppers were becoming “more adventurous and style-aware” in their choice of floor-coverings.

He added: “They are becoming less concerned about what people think about their houses. They are becoming much more selfish and are viewing their homes as somewhere to live for the next four to five years.”

To tap into this trend, Topps piloted a new store format in Milton Keynes last year, which provides an “inspiration” area where customers can mix and match wall and floor tiles. This has now been rolled out to five more of its 320 shops.

But profits still fell 16% to £4.7 million in the six months to March 30. Like-for-like sales dropped 2.1% in its second quarter, and that worsened to 2.6% in the past eight weeks.