Sales at The Notebook Company, a leading retailer of notebooks and accessories, were down by 20% in April and May.
CEO Christopher Riley comments: “April is often a tough month. But this year, during April and May, we had all the normal holidays – which are a rash of holidays – as well as the elections and the possibility that a growing number of people are treating April as their main holiday period, rather than December, due to Easter and all the holidays. I am convinced this possible new trend caused more business downtime.
“In addition, there was the Oscar Pistorius trial – which also might have had an impact as many people have been taking time off to watch it. It is arguably one of the most-watched trials in the world over the last few decades – and I am convinced it caused some work downtime.
“I can’t quantify the exact impact on business. But it is there.”
