John Lewis feeling the heat as it launches its Christmas ranges

John Lewis and Waitrose experienced contrasting fortunes during last week’s sunshine as the soaring temperatures played havoc with the normal autumn sales trends.

Sun cream sales tripled at the supermarket chain, while ice cream sales soared by 62 per cent in the same week that the stores started stocking their Halloween and Christmas products.

Waitrose revenues were up by 9.7 per cent year-on-year to £101.9 million in the week to 1 October, while the department store side of the John Lewis Partnership reported a 7.9 per cent drop in sales.

The chain’s Scottish department stores fared better than those south of the Border, with Edinburgh’s sales down just 2.7 per cent, making it the best-performing branch in the UK. Aberdeen was 7 per cent lower – one of only four stores to post single-digit sales declines – while Glasgow was down 10 per cent.

Lesley Ballantyne, operational development director at John Lewis and a former managing director of its Glasgow branch, said: “It was a tough week due to the Indian summer that arrived on Monday. As the temperature returns to autumnal norms, we are well set to take advantage when footfall increases.”

Even allowing for footfall being hit by the good weather, Howard Archer – chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight – said the figures fuelled concern that consumers are reining in their spending, particularly on discretionary products.

He added: “There has been a clear softening trend in John Lewis sales over the past few weeks. Furthermore, the John Lewis data follow on from a number of retailers recently reporting weak underlying sales.”

Freddie George, a retail analyst at Seymour Pierce, added: “It was a horror of a week for the department stores but a reasonable week for Waitrose. Revenues were impacted by unseasonal warm weather and were against difficult comparatives. The equivalent week last year was one of the strongest of the autumn.”