Best sales for ethical retailer

Jan 14 2009 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

AN ethical retailer has witnessed record festive sales, dispelling the myth that the credit crunch is forcing consumers to trade down to budget lines.

Ethicalsuperstore.com, the Gateshead- based ethical retailer, recorded sales of £500,000 in December, which is a 50% increase on sales during December 2007 – and 2009 has also started well with sales up 60% to date.

The strong growth is across its range of 4,000 ethical gifts, eco-friendly gadgets and organic, fairtrade food and drink.

Its sterling performance means it is on track to reach a turnover figure of £6m by the end of 2009. In the last year it has increased staff levels from 25 to 39.

Andy Redfern, CEO and co-founder, said: “We are delighted with these results and are pleased to see strong growth despite what seems a constant stream of bad news about retailing at present.

“The cynics that said consumers would drop their ethics when the crunch came have been proved wrong. People care about the world they live in – limited resources just make them even more careful in choosing a retailer whose ethics are more than skin deep.”

Ethicalsuperstore.com was founded five years ago, moving from a web and e-marketing consultancy in summer 2006, to its main business now of running a webshop selling fair trade, organic and eco-friendly products and services.

It recently relocated to a 25,000sqft premises in the Team Valley in order to support the rapid growth of the business in the ethical marketplace, with the assistance of venture finance backing. Mr Redfern said: “Ethicalsuperstore.com’s mission is to become the ‘ethical Amazon’ – the number one ethical e-business.

“We are especially proud of these results, given that they were achieved with a lower marketing spend than the previous year and during poor market conditions.

“The company is confident it will see continued growth in 2009 despite the gloomy economic predictions.”

The company recently benefited from a £1m cash injection by Newcastle private equity firm NorthStar Equity Investors (NSEI) and ethical investor Bristol-based Rathbone Greenbank.

It used a large portion of the cash to expand its warehousing space after moving from a 5,000sqft site in Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley to a 25,000sqft building in Team Valley, Gateshead.