Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Sales grew by 6.9% last week (to September 26) for department store group John Lewis, with increases posted by all three buying directorates: Fashion, Home and EHT (Electricals & Home Technology).
Home was up 2.9%, with “impressive results” from Furnishing Textiles and Carpets, at 8% up on last year. Decorative Bed Linens were 8% up and filled bed linens 10% up, as customers start to trade into colder weather product. Home also saw a trend towards early Christmas gifting purchases this week with Gift food up 13.4% and Stationery up 12%.
EHT was 12.2% up, with new Apple products boosting the numbers. The new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, available for pre-order online from Wednesday night and for purchase on Friday, exceeded expectations. Last week also saw the first full week sales of the Apple watch. Small electricals also delivered good growth from Dyson promotions.
Online enjoyed a 21.3% growth in sales. In shops, Tamworth and Exeter took pole position reporting double-digit growth. Last week saw the opening of John Lewis’ latest full line department store in Birmingham’s new Grand Central Station.
Ed Connolly, buying director of Fashion and Beauty, said: “With Christmas shop opening in all branches this week, and as momentum behind our gifting assortments continues, we have an optimistic outlook for October.”
