Is Halfords the best placed retailer in the UK?

This is one of a number of reasons why the retailer is one of the most defensive in the sector. Food retailers are often cited as having the greatest immunity from a downturn but I reckon there are many people who would prefer to continue feeding their beloved cars than put food in their own mouths and have to walk down to the shops rather than drive.

The company is also benefiting from the continued desire by central European car owners to keep their vehicles roadworthy for as long as possible (probably because of financial constraints) which again increases the chance of parts falling off and packing up.

This plays into the hand of Halfords, which is at the start of developing what could be a very lucrative international business, with its first handful of stores now successfully operating in the Czech Republic. Car ownership in general in central Europe is also on the increase as a result of the emergence of the middle class consumer.

While Halfords' historically conservative expansion programme is now helping to put the business on a solid footing in the tough UK market the use of the same measured strategy for its overseas business has been criticised by some analysts. They think management could have been a little more gung-ho in rolling out what looks like a good opportunity.

The City is hoping that the incoming chief executive Ian Wild will address this issue by initiating a more aggressive roll out overseas because he brings a wealth of experience operating in international markets.

He joins Halfords on August 4 from Wal-Mart where he was in charge of business development, but more useful to his new employer was his earlier role at Tesco where he spent six years in senior positions working on the grocer's European expansion.

Wild's comments on joining the business highlight just how well Halford's is placed: "It has some very attractive market positions and exciting opportunities for continued growth as well as sound defensive qualities."

As well as car parts and overseas opportunities he undoubtedly refers to the fledgling cycle business Bikehut, which taps into yet another growing trend - that of people seeking healthier lifestyles and possibly getting on their bikes a tad more as a method of reducing their consumption of fuel.

The company has also benefited from the emergence of SAT NAV technologies and while the exponential growth in this market has now passed there is a belief in the company that many other equally innovative in-car products are on the horizon, which will keep the punters rolling into Halfords stores.

Landsbanki is one broker that had its reservations about Halfords' future potential, believing it to be firmly in the mature category, but following a recent meeting with its finance director Nick Wharton the broker is now convinced that there is plenty of life left in the company and it has a price target of 285p.

This compares with a current share price of 240.75p, which is a little off its low for the year of 229p that it touched at the start of the month. Like every other retailer Halfords has been dragged down by the overall market's decline but the company has many attributes that set it apart from a great many of its contemporaries.

This will at some point surely lead to out-performance in its shares but the difficulty of course is predicting when this will happen. But rest assured that when the tide does come back in for UK retail then Halfords is a company that you'd want on your swimming team.