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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/arctic-weather-boosts-blacks-sales.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Recent Arctic weather conditions helped provide a sales boost for Blacks Leisure" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/min-arctic-weather-boosts-blacks-sales.jpg" alt="Recent Arctic weather conditions helped provide a sales boost for Blacks Leisure"/></a></p>
<p>Outdoor retailer Blacks Leisure has said the recent Arctic weather conditions boosted its turnaround plans as consumers snapped up jackets, scarves and hats.</p>
<p>The cold snap helped increase like-for-like sales in its outdoor business by 10.2% in the key trading period of December despite a strong set of comparative figures the previous year.</p>
<p>The company, which owns the Blacks and Millets brands, said the December performance lifted overall group like-for-like sales for the half-year to the end of December to a decline of just 0.1%.</p>
<p>It is in talks with parties interested in buying all or parts of the business but has insisted it will return to profit if a merger fails to go through.</p>
<p>As part of its turnaround plans, the retailer has closed many of its loss-making stores, leaving it with a core estate of about 300, introduced a loyalty card and recruited a team of 19 outdoor experts to advise customers.</p>
<p>It has revamped 12 stores, which now account for 10% of its sales, and plans to open another outlet next month.</p>
<p>Chief executive Neil Gillis said: &#8220;The group has performed strongly during the key Christmas trading period highlighting the strength of our offering in what continues to be a challenging retail market.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Northampton-based retailer, which made a pre-tax loss of £8.5 million in the first half of its financial year, said the strong winter performance helped to offset the decline of the business in the summer.</p>
<p>Mr Gillis added: &#8220;The turnaround programme remains on track and we enter the New Year in a positive financial position and focused on continuing to deliver the benefits of the turnaround strategy.&#8221;</p>
<p>Shares in Blacks were up 5% following the trading update.</p>
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