John Lewis boosted by in-house labels and menswear

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 19, 2018

The John Lewis department store chain had a good seven days in the period to June 16 as its 5.7% growth easily outstripped that of the combined John Lewis and Waitrose operation with joint sales at the two units up only 2% to £218.99 million.

The company said that sales benefited from customers buying Father’s Day gifts and “enjoying offers as we price matched a competitor’s promotion.”

Fashion had a very strong week with sales up 10.9% and womenswear performed well, just topping fashion’s overall growth with an 11% uplift. And further reflecting the wisdom of John Lewis’s deep dive into own-brands, its in-house labels scored an 11.2% increase. Meanwhile women’s accessories also had a strong week with sales up 15.4% and jewellery was up an even better 20%.  

Again, due to Father's Day, menswear had a particularly good week, delivering impressive sales growth of 19.7%, while men’s socks were - as always - among the most popular gifts, rising 34%. 

Home sales were down once again, but only slightly at 0.4%, while Father's Day gifts were in demand within Gifts, Cook and Dine, which delivered overall growth of 3.6%. Outdoor living also continued to perform well with sales up 3.8%.