Worst sales performance in a year for John Lewis

Department store John Lewis has hit the City with news of its worst sales performance this year, citing fears of renewed weakness in British consumer spending.

Department-store revenue declined 8.3% in the week ended June 28, this represented the sharpest weekly fall since April 2007.

Electricals were down almost 16%, while homeware fell 13%. Fashion sales performed slightly better with a 2.2% rise. Total sales across the company fell 1.9% to £130.1 million, while sales at the other part of the John Lewis partnership, Waitrose, rose 3%.

The latest results show that credit crunch is now having an affect on affluent shoppers.

Sales at the John Lewis department store in the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent fell nearly 25% compared with the same week last year, indicating that consumers are struggling with rising fuel prices which is deterring shoppers from out-of-town sites.

Last week, retail analysts said that the uncertainty surrounding the economy was making it extremely hard to value retail stocks. Some believe prospects will improve next year while others believe it will deteriorate.

In related news, Britain’s biggest clothing retailer, Marks and Spencer (M&S), last week warned of difficult times ahead for the UK economy.

M&S like-for-like UK sales (which exclude the impact of store openings and closures) fell 5.3% in the 13 weeks to 28 June. Like-for-like food sales were down 4.5%, while general merchandise sales fell 6.2%.

Story link: Worst sales performance in a year for John Lewis