Fashion falters at John Lewis but Kin label sees record sales

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 10, 2017

It was another slow week at John Lewis as the first seven days of October unfolded. The company that had a mainly strong September said overall sales dipped 0.9% to £81.9 million.

And faltering fashion sales had a big effect. After a month in which an autumnal September had led people to buy into the new-in autumn offer enthusiastically, their enthusiasm waned. That was partly caused by a change in the weather as some late sunshine dented the appeal of coats and knits.

The company said that fashion sales overall dropped, which is something it’s certainly not used to. Admittedly though, the fall was relatively small at 2.7% and the retailer’s Kin range had a record week with a 55% rise year-on-year.

Home sales continued their weak run of much of this year with a 2.5% drop in the latest seven days, but John Lewis’s Christmas Villages continued to perform well and Halloween products were up strongly again, with a 30% increase compared to last year. They had also surged last week, with John Lewis clearly becoming go-to Halloween destination for 2017.

Elsewhere, electricals and home technology sales rose 2.4%, driven by strong demand in communication technology. Apple products, including Macbooks and iPhones 8 and 6, performed well. And Sony and Panasonic TVs had a strong week, as did lifestyle beverage products such as kettles and coffee machines.