Sales increasing at John Lewis

Sep 6 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

DEPARTMENT store chain John Lewis said sales rose 1.6% after a strong week for its electricals and home technology department.

The group, which opened its 27th store in Leicester this week, reported total revenues of £50.4m for the seven days to last Saturday.

The group had been in line for a more substantial increase but said the sunny weather on Saturday tempted customers away from shopping.

Seven branches achieved better sales than a year ago – Oxford Street, High Wycombe, Norwich, Aberdeen, Southampton, Glasgow and Trafford – while relocated outlets at Cambridge and Liverpool exceeded their budget targets.

The Newcastle store was 2.9% down.

In home technology, sales were 5.6% higher than a year ago, better than the 3.2% rise seen in fashion and offsetting a 6% drop in the home department.

The overall sales improvement of 1.6% follows declines of 4.2% and 2.8% in the previous two weeks.

The group will provide further details of its performance on Thursday when it publishes results for the six months to the end of July. Sales for the department store chain are expected to be marginally higher than a year ago.

In March, staff shared a record bonus pot of £181m – with payouts equivalent to more than 10 weeks salary – after the partnership posted profits of £379.8m in the year to January 26.

But John Lewis has fared less well in more challenging retail conditions since then.