Chemist retail sales up, pubs down

Chemists, electrical goods retailers and hardware outlets are the big winners from a continued rise in consumer spending levels over the past three months, while pubs and bars largely lost out.

CSO figures show that retail sales volumes grew by 5.1%, year-on-year, in the three months to the end of October, with the value of sales growing 4.5%. On a quarterly basis, sales were relatively flat.