Hot weather cools John Lewis sales

Department store chain John Lewis yesterday blamed soaring temperatures for a slowdown, as knitwear sales wilted in the sunshine.

The retailer said like-for-like sales growth across its 33 stores and website dropped to 0.1 per cent in the week to 24 September, against a 15.1 per cent increase a year earlier.

Nat Wakely, director of selling operations, said fashion unusually failed to beat its performance last year – with a 0.7 per cent decline compared with a 3 per cent increase – but this was down to the effects of the higher temperatures.

“The knitwear figures tell it all in terms of the weather when compared year-on-year,” Wakely said.

The weekly sales update revealed a 1.4 per cent year-on-year dip in sales at John Lewis’s Edinburgh store.

Aberdeen was 7.8 per cent lower while Glasgow fell by 9.8 per cent.