John Lewis boosted by fashion and Dyson Airwrap launch last week

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 6, 2018

John Lewis Partnership’s sales edged up by 1.1% in the seven days to November 3, hitting almost £240 million, but the John Lewis chain itself achieved a slightly better increase.

The department store operation and its webstore saw sales rising 1.4% with its Fashion department leading the charge. Sales there rose as much as 7.6% and noticeably benefitted from the colder weather “which boosted sales of all fashion categories.” In fact, womenswear and menswear sales were up 15.4% and 9.6% respectively, which is an impressive rise coming at a time when spending is muted. 

Parents shopping with children during half-term also increased sales and total sales of childrenswear, nursery and haberdashery were up 3.1%, it said.

And there was finally some good news for the beleaguered Home department as overall Hone sales were up 0.8%. Furniture and Flooring sales were up 3% on the same week last year, and it saw particularly strong sales of beds “as customers turned their attention to making their homes ready for winter.” Cookshop sales rose by 9% on the back of some price matching on popular brands.

Unfortunately, Electrical and Home Technology sales were down 3.8% as the company saw the anniversary of a particularly strong sales period. However, it saw strong demand for a number of new products including the almost-£400 Dyson Airwrap which launched online and in its stores last week.