Seasonal boost for sales at John Lewis
THE growing popularity of Halloween combined with early Christmas shopping gave sales at John Lewis department stores a boost.
Spooky bunting and “trick or treat” bags were big sellers in the final week of October as the shops saw sales rise by 7.8 per cent
But the staff-owned business warned that recovery remained fragile and said that compared to two years ago only four of its 28 stores saw a sales rise.
Sales were £61.9million, with a near 12 per cent rise in electrical and home technology products, homewares up nearly 10 per cent and fashion more than 6 per cent.
At sister company Waitrose, sales were up 10.1 per cent to £84.9million, helped by Halloween and sales of fireworks for Bonfire Night.
Shoppers preparing for Christmas snapped up kitchenware, including roasting and baking equipment.
Howard Archer, chief UK economist at Global Insight, said the figures suggested UK retail sales were not in bad shape as the crucial Christmas season got underway.
He added that consumers could be buying big ticket items such as TV sets and furniture ahead of January’s VAT increase.