John Lewis sees strong week for fashion and beauty

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 16, 2019

John Lewis Partnership sales rose 6.2% to £215.3 million in the seven days to April 13, although the biggest contributor to this was its Waitrose supermarkets. However, its John Lewis department stores also saw a sale rise, albeit one of only 4.8%.

But that was impressive compared to the UK department stores sector as a whole with chains like Debenhams and House of Fraser still struggling.

The John Lewis chain reported its rising sales “as customers enjoyed shopping Easter promotions, with Easter falling later this year compared to last year.”

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And it got a big boost from the Fashion department with sales here up as much as 10.4%. John Lewis said that new season fashion sales were up 4.2% “as customers prepared for the warmer weather and Easter getaways.” 

And its beauty, wellbeing and leisure sales were up as much as 15.2%. Within that, price-matching competitor beauty promotions through its commitment to being never knowingly undersold drove beauty category sales up 14%. Meanwhile, menswear sales were up 10.7% due to seasonal promotions on a selection of menswear brands.

And there was finally some good news for the under-pressure Home department with its sales up 6.9%. Furniture and flooring sales rose 9% as customers shopped for outdoor living products and cookshop sales were up 16.2% due to seasonal promotions.