John Lewis weekly sales struggle in half-term warm weather
The John Lewis department store chain saw its weekly sales fall by 0.7% last week as the warm weather during half-term affected sales in-store and online.
Sales at all stores were down on the same week last year with the exception of Swindon where sales edged up by 0.5%.
Online sales also slowed, up 10.8% on the same week last year.
Fashion sales were up 1% whereas Electrical and Home Technology sales declined 1.8%. Home sales were down 1.2%.
During the week, the retailer opened its newly refurbished fourth floor at its flagship Oxford Street store featuring childrenswear, toys and crafts. John Lewis said this had been well received by customers and added that many of its refurbished fashion floors were beginning to deliver stronger results.
Tim Harrison, head of commercial format and implementation at John Lewis said: “We are now coming out of all the refurbishment and development work across the estate and this is a real opportunity to impress customers with our finest presentation and product in those areas. Finally, we have completed the rollout of Click & collect into a further 60 Waitrose shops to support us as we head into Christmas.”
