John Lewis enjoys another week of buoyant trade
John Lewis has reported another strong week of trading as sales in the week ending 14 April rose 13.9% on last year.
The employee-owned department store chain said the post-Easter week got off to a flying start as bad weather on Easter Monday encouraged its customers to go shopping.
19 of the retailer’s stores beat sales figures for the same week last year, with Poole, Croydon and Swindon putting in the best performances with increases of 20.2%, 20.1% and 14.7% respectively. John Lewis said its newest store in Chichester enjoyed a “remarkable” first week with sales roughly twice ahead of expectations. Online sales at johnlewis.com rose by 57.8%.
Among the directorates, Electricals and Home Technology saw a 49.4% increase in sales driven by strong underlying trade in electrical appliances. Home sales rose by 3.9% as lighting, linens and cookshop performed well. Fashion sales were hampered by the cooler weather and edged up only 0.9% on the same week last year.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Andy Street, John Lewis managing director, said attention was no turning to the opening of the new John Lewis Home store in Newbury, and then to summer events. He added: “With London 2012 Shops open in all our branches and online, and the ‘Celebration of Britain’ products in place, we look well set to capture the nation’s mood.”
This week John Lewis announced that it will become the latest retailer to enter the broadband market, providing three levels of home broadband, ranging from £11 to £25 a month on a 12-month contract.
