John Lewis boosted by women's accessories in latest week

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 22, 2019

John Lewis Partnership sales rose 2% in the latest week to reach more than £205 million but that was fuelled by its Waitrose supermarkets operation.

The John Lewis department stores chain, by contrast, saw sales rising only 0.7% in the seven days up to January 19. 

But the Fashion department had another good week, further justifying the company’s heavy investment in ramping up its fashion ops.

Sales here rose as much as 7.2% with Premium Women’s Accessories “particularly strong”. And that wasn’t an exaggeration as the category’s sales rose an astonishing 97%. Cold weather products also performed well with sales up 10%.

But the problems in its interiors offer just seem to go on and on. Once again, Home department sales fell, with a drop of 3.1%. Bath Shop had a good week with sales up 4.6% and Tabletop continued to perform well with sales up 5.7%. Gifts, Cook and Dine had another good week with sales up 4.9%.

Meanwhile, Electrical and Home Technology sales were down 1% but Tablet and Computing sales rose 5.2%, with strong demand for Apple products.