As retailers counted up their Christmas sales, many brands appeared to have sailed through the stormy waters with ease, reporting record sales and bucking downward trends in their sectors.
On the high street, things were looking good for John Lewis. In a trading statement this week, the company said sales rose by 7.8% during the week to December 22, compared with the same period last year. During that week, customers parted with £76.9m at John Lewis's 26 department stores.
AOL reported its biggest sales quarter to date this year, with users spending £7.6bn online since October, including a whopping £5bn over the Christmas period.
Virgin Mobile also said it had had a good end to 2001, with 264,359 customers joining the network in the final quarter. This is only an increase of 1% on the same period last year, but it beats the trend of the other mobile operators, which are seeing new subscription numbers fall off.
Condiments experienced a good week, with Marmite's 100th birthday being celebrated in the press. London's Evening Standard went to town, hailing the brand's ability to withstand the test of time and deeming its packaging a design classic.
The humble bottle of tomato ketchup was lauded as the latest weapon in the war against cancer. Researchers have found that a single serving of ketchup every day appeared to slow the growth of prostate cancers. The Daily Mail marked the fact with a half-page story, illustrated by a bottle of Heinz' finest red.
Hard to believe though it is, Asda announced this week that it is planning to accelerate the rollout of its in-store jewellery shops, after the 10 pilot counters recorded sales twice as high as expected. It now plans to have jewellery available in 100 stores next year. Those tins look absolutely great on you, darling.
Amid the Christmas cheer, one of Britain's biggest brands was feeling the heat. Following on from last year's tabloid fury at British Gas price rises, the Consumers' Association won support in the media for its campaign to get customers to switch to cheaper gas suppliers. The organisation has put information on its website about where customers can get cheaper deals, and claims that the protest could mark a new phase in consumer power.
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