The Entertainer's Gary Grant

The Entertainer, the UK’s largest independent toy retailer, has unveiled strong trading figures for the Christmas trading period.

The retailer says its total sales for the five weeks to December 31 2011were 28.8% up compared with last year. Like-for-like sales including VAT were up 10.1% – made up of a 4.7% increase in stores and a 36.7% increase online.

For the 48 weeks to December 31, total company sales rose by 22.1% and like-for-like sales were 6.2% ahead of the same period in 2010.

Gary Grant, founder of The Entertainer, said: “We’re extremely pleased with our record-breaking performance over the Christmas period.

“Not only did we see a 10.1% increase in like-for-like sales, but we resisted the panic discounting used by many of our rivals and as a result we expect to see significant year-on-year profit growth.

“Many commentators have predicted the decline and eventual death of the high street, but our results show there’s still customer demand for what we do. We don’t have a magic formula for this success, but we are passionate about creating an exciting shopping experience for customers and at every level of the business our team is dedicated to making that happen.

“In 2012 we will continue to support the different ways our customers shop by opening 12 new stores and investing significantly in the multichannel side of the business. As a result of our expansion plans we anticipate the creation of 750 new jobs over the next five years.”