Extra July trading day boost for kitchens and bathrooms through merchants

Kitchen and bathroom sales through builders merchants rose year on year in July and were also up from June 2018, according to the latest data.

The Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) showed that kitchen and bathroom sales rose 6.8% in July from a year earlier, and were up 3.1% from June – outperforming total builders merchants sales, which rose just 1.1% on the month.

The index, compiled by GfK, MRA and BMF, showed that kitchens and bathrooms rose to 121.4 in July, up from 117.8 in June, and 113.7 in July 2017.

GfK said the extra trading day in July this year helped to lift sales.

Total builders merchant sales were up 8.3% in July compared with July 2017.

Three categories achieved their highest monthly sales in the four years BMBI data has been compiled: heavy building materials, timber and joinery products and decorating.

The BMBI also showed that for the first seven months of the year, kitchens and bathroom sales were up 5.1%, slightly outperforming the market, which was 4.6% ahead of the same period in 2017.

Plumbing, heating and electrical was the best performing category so far this year, up 10.4%.

The data tracks builders merchants sales using GfK’s builders merchants point of sale tracking data, which represents more than 80% of the merchant market.

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