Scots stores buck John Lewis trend

Published on Saturday 21 June 2008 00:49

MIDDLE Britain retail bellwether John Lewis said shoppers' worries about possible fuel shortages hit sales last week – but two of its three Scottish department stores bucked the downward trend.

It was the fifth time in six weeks the employee-owned store group, whose sales are a closely watched indicator of Britain's retail sector, has reported sliding sales.

And retail analysts said the figures were further proof that Thursday's extremely strong May retail data from the Office of National Statistics was "a blip".

Sales at John Lewis in Edinburgh rose just under 4 per cent in the week to 14 June, while the Aberdeen outlet was up just under 1 per cent.

The Glasgow store did worse, with weekly sales falling 5.7 per cent.

Overall sales at the group were down 4.4 per cent to 45.7 million, as it said the fine weather also kept shoppers away.

Sales up to the end of week 20 in John Lewis's trading year are up just 1.3 per cent as rising consumer caution continues to have an adverse impact.

One analyst said: "The City was already sceptical about the 3.5 per cent industry volume growth figure for May. This will certainly underpin that scepticism."

Barry Matheson, head of selling development at John Lewis, said: "Last week was always going to be a stiff target with one of our best weeks from last year against us, so it was no surprise to be 4 per cent down.

"Saturday in particular was a challenge with a combination of fine weather and concern about the fuel drivers' strike combining to drive down footfall in the regional shopping-centre branches."

He called the performance in Edinburgh and Aberdeen "admirable". They were two of only three John Lewis outlets, along with London's Oxford Street, to improve their figures week-on-week.

Over the 20-week period, Aberdeen's sales are up 2.3 per cent, Edinburgh is up 0.1 per cent and Glasgow is down 4.3 per cent.

The sharpest UK falls were in out-of-town stores as shoppers decided not to use up petrol. Sales at Cribbs Causeway near Bristol slumped 16.3 per cent , while Bluewater in Kent tumbled 14.6 per cent and Brent Cross in London 12 per cent.

Fashion, with a 3 per cent rise, was the only department to see higher sales, while homewares was down nearly 9 per cent and electricals nearly 10 per cent.

It was a more buoyant picture at the partnership's Waitrose supermarkets subsidiary.

Sales rose 7.3 per cent in the week under review, helped by an opening in Buckingham and Father's Day-related purchases.