Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
John Lewis’ sales returned to growth in the week to July 27, rising 13% to £64m as the hot weather eased.
The department store group’s operations director Dino Rocos said: “With the heat of recent weeks easing, customers found an increased appetite to visit our stores and online proposition.”
He added that the best week-on-week turnaround was within Home, with total sales advancing 6.9%, and noted: “A particular call out to Cooking and Dining with sales growth of 13.7%, driving double-digit increases across every buying office, and against some strong promotional activity last year. Particularly noteworthy were Sophie Conran china and new/exclusive lines.”
Electricals showed the biggest year-on-year growth, closing the week with a 24% increase. Within Small Electricals, among the items drawing attention were juicers which, Dino Rocos said, “continue to be the gadget of the moment, delivering triple-digit growth on the year”.
Sales of juicers have soared 1,886% on last year. One product – the Sage by Heston Blumenthal ‘The Nutri’ Juicer (£149.95) – has been given an extra boost after appearing on Channel 5’s award-winning documentary ‘Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead,’ in which Joe Cross ‘reboots’ his life with a juice diet.
