In previous recessions, spending on big-ticket items, such as sofas, furniture and large electrical goods, has fallen off a cliff as people squeeze their budgets (Ashley Armstrong writes). However, the pandemic, which has forced people to stay indoors, has provoked a very different response.
People who have spent their days staring at four walls have noticed the cracks that need repairing, the cushions that could do with replacing and the kitchens that are crying out for a revamp — and as they aren’t spending as much money in restaurants, bars or on holiday as they did pre-virus, they are using their spare cash to make their homes and gardens, where they have spent most of the past five months, a bit smarter or, at least
