John Lewis at Home enjoyed a solid start.
October, 2009
The new home store set up by John Lewis in Poole has got off to a stronger than expected start. Sales are reported to be around 30% above initial forecasts.
The ‘John Lewis at Home’ branch also had to extend opening hours to cope with the sheer volume of customers.
The chain has enjoyed a positive week with sales up 9.1% compared to the same week 12 months ago. However last years performances were weak. Andrew Murphy warned that two-year comparisons dangerous and was keen to point out that “remind us we are not yet trading at a level that could allow us to relax or believe that sustained growth will come easy at any point in the near future.”
The new home stores delivered the biggest sales increase with furniture especially strong. However fashion and electricals were also strongly up. Bluewater and Trafford were the groups best performers, both up 13.5%.
Waitrose the groups sister grocery chain also had a positive period with a year on year rise of 15.1%. This rise was partly fuelled by Halloween and bonfire night.
Michelle Williams from Artemis Solutions Group who specialise in the retail sector comments “It has been a good improvement for the group – all be it against a series of low figures from 2008. Perhaps the increased popularity of Halloween has played a part in this resurgence. I understand that sales of pumpkins were up 31% compared with last year – spooky!”
