Edinburgh fails to match rising trend at John Lewis

Published on Friday 31 July 2009 21:45

SALES at John Lewis, the department store chain, have lifted on the back of a strong end to its clearance sale, but Edinburgh was badly hit as the continuing tramworks disruption and economic slowdown ravaged sales.

The employee-owned retailer, seen as a bellwether of consumer confidence, reported a strong week of trading as the last day of its sale helped it achieve a 6.3 per cent hike in takings with John Lewis Direct up 29 per cent.

In Edinburgh, sales tumbled 10.2 per cent at its flagship Scottish store compared with the same week last year, and were down 9.4 per cent year-on-year over the 25 weeks to 25 July.

Hazel Tierney, operations manager of John Lewis Edinburgh, cited the impact of events such as the Gathering and good summer weather.

She said: "We experienced mixed trading last week. We saw good performance in fashion and back-to-school lines as we approach the end of the summer holidays.

"However, the high-profile events associated with the Gathering, coupled with the good summer weather resulted in lower footfall.

"Looking ahead we have lots of new season stock which will be arriving over the coming weeks."

But Ron Hewitt, chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said there was no doubt the distraction of the tramworks had a significant influence.

"Being 9 per cent down from being the best performing store in Britain last year probably means that's it's fallen a little further than some of its compatriots and I am sure the disruption in Edinburgh has not helped. But we are going through this painful process to emerge as a better city."

Meanwhile, John Lewis said weekly fashion sales jumped 12.5 per cent year-on-year, while sales of home-related products rose 4 per cent and sales of electricals and home technology were up 2.9 per cent.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "We believe that the upside for consumer spending is likely to remain limited for some time to come.

"Significantly, consumers remain under serious pressure from sharply higher and rising unemployment, markedly reduced earnings growth and heightened debt levels."

At John Lewis' grocery business, Waitrose, sales remained strong after a 9.9 per cent rise in the week.