Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Total sales for John Lewis & Partners were down 2.4% last week (to Saturday March 16) as the department store group annualised a week which included Mother’s Day, and price-matched a competitor’s event that was smaller than last year.
Trading director Simon Coble said: “Home sales were down 3.2% but our Living Room campaign which launched at the weekend had a strong start. We also saw strong sales of our new furniture collections including our recent collaboration with Swoon.
“Electrical and Home Technology sales were down 3.8% due to annualising strong promotions in the run-up to an earlier Easter last year.
“Fashion sales were down 0.5% on the same week last year, due to the lower level of price matching in Beauty and Nursery. However, we had a strong week in Menswear, with sales up 9.3%, and Womenswear sales were up 5.1%. The mixed weather drove sales of both knitwear and swimwear as customers began to think about their summer holidays.”
The living room has replaced the kitchen as the heart of UK homes, according to a new report by John Lewis & Partners entitled ’The Things We do In Our Living Rooms (And The Things We Wish We Didn’t’
