John Lewis sales up as shoppers catch sports fever
John Lewis, Britain’s biggest department store group, posted strong sales growth last week, helped by increased demand for sports equipment following Britain’s gold medal haul at the London Olympics.
The employee-owned firm said today department store sales jumped 14.5 per cent year on year to £61.1m in the week to 18 August, the third week of its fiscal second half.
“There were no post-Olympic Games blues for customers… we saw a 31 per cent growth in sports equipment sales with some customers perhaps aspiring to be the next Mo Farah,” it said.
John Lewis, the official department store provider to the London Games, said sales in its electricals and home technology category increased 28.1 per cent, with tablets, televisions and white goods all seeing double figure increases. Sales in the home category were up 7.7 per cent.
The company said recent sales had been boosted by a feel good factor following the London Games.
Although inflation and unemployment are falling, Britain is still in recession and many retailers are hurting.
John Lewis, which has a bias to the south east of England, has set the pace in the sector this summer, outperforming rivals as wet weather has driven footfall from the high street to the covered shopping malls where its stores are often located.