TOMB RAIDER BOOSTS SUPERMARKET CHAIN
Copyright 2001 www.tombraiderchronicles.com | Source Evening Standard

[ December 28th 2001 ]

Asda today claimed its best-ever Christmas sales, with customer numbers up an extraordinary 15 percent to more than 10 million. The supermarket chain, now part of US group Wal-Mart, does not release trading figures, but said like-for-like sales growth from 1 December to 24 December was low double-digit.

Sales at the six Asda Wal-Mart Supercentres totalled more than UKpound 30 million, 85 stores each took in excess of UKpound 3 million and the group's market share growth was double the industry average. In the 12 days up to Christmas Asda sold two million pounds of sprouts over a million turkeys and more than 50 million mince pies.

Electrical sales rose 52 percent on last year, helped by demand for DVD and 14-inch TV sets. Sales of cut-price "must-have" DVD films - this year including Shrek, Bridget Jones's Diary and Tomb Raider - were up four times, and book/newspaper sales rose 26 percent, boosted by Harry Potter boxed sets and Pamela Stephenson's biography of her husband Billy Connolly, each of which sold nearly 50,000 copies.