John Lewis defies retail gloom with 20% jump in sales

• Summer sale gets off to strong start • Childrenswear up 42% • Waitrose sales up 8% • Poll: will you be splurging in the summer sales? John Lewis’s summer sale got off to a flying start last week, providing evidence that it’s not all doom and gloom on the high street . Boosted by the mini heatwave, the department store enjoyed 20% sales growth (18.2% excluding VAT) in the week to 25 June compared with the same week last year. “Starting online on Wednesday night and on Thursday in our shops has clearly paid dividends, with us trading up 14% compared to the first four days of clearance last year,” said Peter Ruis, buying & brand director at John Lewis. Freddie George, retail analyst at Seymour Pierce, said: “It was an outstanding week for the department stores … indicating that consumers are still spending despite the difficult economic outlook and predictably are buying into the sales and discounts.” He noted that the company benefited from having two extra days of the sale, which started on Thursday (last year Saturday) and relatively easy comparatives with the previous year, which was impacted by the World Cup (England played Slovenia on the Wednesday and the second round started on the Saturday) and very hot weather. Fashion sales climbed 22.6%, boosted by a strong performance in childrenswear (up 42%) and 22% growth in accessories and beauty; electricals were 17.6% ahead, with IT up 58%, led by Special Buy laptops, while homewares advanced 20.5%. All John Lewis stores were in positive territory – the stand-outs were Brent Cross (up 15%), Southampton (up 18%) and Kingston (up 11%). Johnlewis.com was also strong – sales were 46% higher, with fashion leaping 80%. At Waitrose, sales climbed 8%, in line with recent trends. George said: “These figures will provide some relief to a sector that has been significantly impacted by the economic headwinds. However, we remain cautious on the outlook and think it likely that, as in April, consumers have brought forward their spending taking the advantage of the sales. We also think it likely that discounts have not been as deep as in previous years as the retailers have been focused on preserving margins.” Debenhams has also done a roaring trade in its beauty hall and put it down the “lipstick effect” in recessionary times – women cheering themselves up with a new lipstick or bottle of perfume rather than splurging on expensive designer items. Howard Archer, chief UK & European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “It is highly likely that once the clearance sale is over, or the best of the bargains are gone, consumers will quickly put their hands back in their pockets.” John Lewis Retail industry Consumer spending Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 1, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.