John Lewis reports strong end to clearance sales

UK: John Lewis reports strong end to clearance sales

By just-style.com | 21 January 2008

John Lewis Partnership, which includes the namesake department store chain and supermarket group Waitrose, has increased group sales 5.5% in the first 24 weeks of its financial year on the back of strong lingerie and women's shoe revenues.

John Lewis itself reported a 5.4% increase in sales for the week ended 12 January, with sales for the year so far up 4.7% - both compared to the prior year period.

The department store chain said sales in the last week of its post-Christmas clearance period were 23% better than the same week two years ago.

John Lewis stores in the UK cited success in linens, beauty, fashions and fashion accessories as driving performance.

"It was an exciting week for our fashion offer, with lingerie, women's shoes and beauty all performing extremely well after a very good 2007," the company added in a statement.

"It was encouraging to see strong sales on own-brand clothing and great to see all four children's clothing buyerships with strong double-digit annual gains.

"After a Christmas of excess, we look forward to seeing the result of the recent sports expansion in all shops."

The company had gone into the Christmas period trading well, with two successive weeks of record sales in mid-December.

Sectors: Apparel, Retail

Companies: John Lewis