Beauty and own-brands are biggest hits for John Lewis

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 12, 2018

The John Lewis department store operation was the star performer at the John Lewis Partnership in the seven days to June 9 as total company sales rose 2.4% to £212.02 million, but the chain rose 4.2%.

The company said the good news came as it annualised promotions, but the Fashion directory lagged slightly with sales up only 2.8% on the same week a year ago.

The unit was helped by buoyant beauty turnover as price matching a competitor’s promotion helped drive sales up as much as 13%. And sales of women’s accessories were 8% higher, while its own-brand womenswear had a strong week with sales up 4.8%. The company really has seen the benefit of investment in own-brands in recent years with labels such as Kin and And/Or outperforming in a very tough market.

Meanwhile Home sales were down 1.1%, but it saw sales of Father’s Day gifts increasing, and sales of gin were up 15% on the previous week due to the successful World Gin Day campaign. Its outdoor living furniture continued to be popular and total sales for furniture and flooring products were up 2.6% on the same week last year.