Waitrose brings some good news to the retail sector

The last two weeks have been bleak for the retail sector with well-known chains entering administration as a result of the economic downturn.

However, Waitrose, which is owned by John Lewis, has posted a 41% rise in total sales in the week to December 27.

A flurry of last-minute shoppers sent takings at Waitrose to £112 million, compared with £79 million during the same period in 2007.

John Lewis also benefited with sales up during the week by 1.2%, compared with a year before. However, sales at the department store are down 1.6% over the past 22 weeks.

Earlier this week, Experian said that visits to UK High Streets during the last week of December were up 12.8%, compared with the same period in 2007.

Other well-known retailers including Marks & Spencer, Next and Sainsbury’s are all due to publish their Christmas trading results next week.

However, despite the much-needed good news, analysts are still cautious and believe retailers will struggle as consumers cut back on spending and unemployment rises.

Last month, insolvency expert Begbies Traynor warned that more retail chains will go bust before the middle of January.

Begbies said it would not be surprised if between 10 and 15 well-known chains did not make it beyond mid-January.

Story link: Waitrose brings some good news to the retail sector