Cooking and dining sales up 4.3% at John Lewis

Sales for last week (to Saturday January 7) at John Lewis reached £103.4m – up 3.9% year-on-year.

The department store group described the performance as ‘a good week’s trade, particularly as our shops were shut on Sunday for New Year’s Day. Clearance continued to be the driver of sales, and we continue Clearance until January 15’.

Fashion buying director Ed Connolly commented that fashion was the retailer’s strongest category for the period, with sales up 9.2%.

He explained: “We had excellent Clearance trading in womenswear at +17.9%, women’s accessories at +10.9%, and menswear at +10.4%. Beauty also had a good week at +6.7%. Cold weather items are also continuing to sell well.

“In Home, sales were +1.2%, with textiles and carpets at +5.4% and cooking and dining +4.3%, reflecting the offers available on branded products.

“EHT [Electricals & Home Technology] sales were up +3.1% on last year, with all categories performing well through Clearance, and communications technology (including laptops and tablets) up 5.5%.”