Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Last week (to May 14) department store group John Lewis took £73.1m in sales – a 4% increase on last year.
Retail operations development director Simon Russell said: “Continuing on from previous weeks, the weather played its part in influencing when our customers were shopping and what they were buying.”
All three product areas saw a climb in sales, with EHT (Electricals & Home Technology) performing strongest at 8%. Simon commented that wearable technology was the runaway winner in this category – up 352% compared with last year – “demonstrating that customers are increasingly looking for products that will aid their healthy lifestyles”.
Home sales were up 2.9%, with warmer weather meaning that outdoor living products continue to drive sales. The weather story continues to unfold elsewhere across the Home directorate, with low tog duvets another star performer.
Fashion finished the week up 2.2%, despite going up against a week that last year featured various price-matching activity of competitor promotions. Childrenswear performed particularly strongly, with sales up 29%.
