Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Divisional sales at Waitrose excluding fuel were up 14.3% last week (to Saturday March 10) compared with the same week last year.
The supermarket chain’s customer director Martin George said it benefited from the timing of Mother’s Day on Sunday March 11, which fell during a different trading week last year, “as well as shoppers stocking up after many areas of the UK thawed out”.
He noted that over the week, shoppers bought a wide variety of treats for Mother’s Day, with sales of boxed chocolates rising by 51%, flowers by 114%, gin by 62% and wine by 23.5%.
He added: “With much of the country still seeing chilly temperatures, shoppers continued to stock up on warming comfort food.” Sales of hot pies grew by 26% and chilled soups by 16%.
