Solid sales at John Lewis
Trading up across Christmas and sales
John Lewis has outperformed the tough UK retail market over Christmas, reporting a 1.6 per cent like-for-like sales increase across the seven weeks to January 8.
The department store group saw a 3.5 per cent increase in fashion sales, with womenswear and accessories up 2.9 per cent. Menswear, leisure and beauty sales were up 6 per cent, home increased by 0.7 per cent, while electricals and home technology like-for-likes were flat.
For the half year so far, from July 25 to January 8, like-for-like sales have increased by 1.7 per cent. The figures include both the stores and the John Lewis Direct home shopping operation.
Gareth Thomas, director, retail operations, for John Lewis said: “We are more than satisfied with these figures, which reflect the skill and commitment of John Lewis partners, from buying through the supply chain to selling, who have worked so effectively to meet the needs and wants of our customers over this key period.
“It has been, and continues to be, a challenging trading environment affected by a succession of interest rate rises, a flat housing market and high energy costs. With the added effect of deflation on the retail economy, it is clearly unrealistic to assume large automatic year on year growth in sterling figures, which makes these results particularly encouraging.”
