John Lewis sales up 5% last week
Sales at John Lewis increased by 5% year-on-year last week as trading was once again influenced by the weather.
Although trade flagged in the first part of the week due to the unseasonably warm autumn sunshine, sales picked up by the end of the week when cooler temperatures kicked in.
Fashion sales rose 1.3% with some of the best perfoming categories being nursery, babywear and own-brand menswear.
Sales within the home directorate edged up 0.6% as the retailer enjoyed buoyant trade in lighting and strong early sales within the Christmas Shop.
Never Miss a Retail Update!However, the best performance came from electricals and home technology where sales rose by 14.7%. Trade was boosted by strong demand for food preparation items helped by the popularity of the Great British Bake Off TV programme. Sales also benefited from a two year guarantee offer on all products.
On Friday John Lewis opened its revamped High Wycombe shop as a full-line department store, 25 years after its original debut. The week also saw the Exeter store celebrate a year of successful trade.
The performance table for the stores was led by the John Lewis at Home shops in Swindon, Newbury, Tunbridge Wells, Tamworth and Chester, all of which cleared 10%. Online sales at Johnlewis.com registered another solid increase at 16.3%. The retailer said it now sells over a quarter of a million products online, which is over five times more than four years ago.
Andy Street, John Lewis managing director, said: “There are now just 10 weeks to Christmas. Distribution centres are busy receiving the stocks, shops are being decked, our marketing and PR is all but ready, and Partners across the division are making final plans. My sense is that we are well set, and the coming half term will fire the starting gun. Enjoy the race.”
