John Lewis boosted by fashion success

John Lewis Partnership today said UK department store sales rose 7.5% last week after an “excellent” showing for the group’s fashion division.

The group, which opened its 27th store in Leicester this month, reported total revenues of £51.4m (€65m) for the seven days to last Saturday.

Fashion sales were 20.6% higher and reflected a strong performance in back-to-school ranges, John Lewis said in its weekly trading update.

However, the Partnership’s Waitrose supermarket business struggled to make headway in the week, with sales just 0.6% higher.

Last week, half-year results from John Lewis indicated that Waitrose had lost market share as shoppers looked for cheaper options in the economic downturn.

Waitrose’s like-for-like sales were 2.5% ahead in the first half of the year, but this swung to a 1.1% fall in the six weeks since the end of July. Overall, Partnership profits slipped 27% to £108m (€136m) with the group braced for a challenging rest of the year.