Burberry appear to be riding out the current storm affecting the retail industry, thanks in no small part to the weak sterling on the international currency exchanges.  Continental European tourists, as well as visitors from China, flocked to the chains British shops in their thousands to take advantage of the great (for them) exchange rates.

Burberry executives put this down to the company’s iconic pieces as well as their heritage, meaning that their brand momentum was as healthy as normal. Although sales fell in the three months to the end of June by almost four percent, when the effect of the exchange rate movements for the period were taken into consideration, it meant that they were actually up by eight percent.

Conversely, US tourists didn’t appear to find Burberry such an attraction as their European and Chinese counterpart, and this was due mainly to the fact that the United States was feeling the pinch a little harder than the rest of the world as well as the fact that the exchange rate between the dollar and the pound sterling was not to the advantage of the Americans.

Although the consumer market was buoyant for the company, wholesale sales dropped by 28% and this was due mainly to department stores watching their purchases in the current economic climate as well as some in-house initiatives, such as discontinuing the sportswear arm of the company.