Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
As the hot weather continued across most parts of the UK, John Lewis sales for the week ending August 13 totalled £71.4m – down 2.3% on last year.
Simon Russell, director of retail operations development for the department store group, said: “In what proved to be a challenging week, footfall was down as customers chose to enjoy the great outdoors, as well as making the most of the school holidays by heading abroad with their families. The latter, however, also supported a 17.8% year-on-year rise in sales at John Lewis Heathrow.”
He noted that although fashion sales struggled (down 2.6% year-on-year), the sunny climate continued to drive sales of warm weather fashion, which was up 6%, with sunglasses up 21% and sandals up 14%.
Simon added: “As we watched Team GB climb the medals table in Rio, customers were clearly inspired to get active, with sports sales up 9.4%.”
EHT (Electricals & Home Technology) followed suit with sales up 2.2% year-on-year. Unsurprisingly, cooling sales were up 54% year-on-year while audio sales were up 6.7%, driven mostly by strong sales in headphones as customers prepared for their summer holiday.
Home also faced a difficult week, with sales down 1.4% year-on-year, despite furniture sales being up 4.2%.
