Sewing craze boosts sales at John Lewis

Britain’s new-found love of needlework has helped sales at department store group John Lewis return to growth.

Picture: Donald MacLeod

The final episode of BBC series Great British Sewing Bee, presented by Claudia Winkleman, is due for broadcast next week and John Lewis said its haberdashery department has enjoyed its “best ever summer week outside Clearance”.

Beauty and fashion products also proved popular in the week to 13 April, pushing overall takings up 6.9 per cent. The turnaround followed a 3.2 dip in sales for the previous week, which the retailer blamed on the early arrival of Easter.

Among the firm’s three Scottish stores, Aberdeen was the best performer with a 15.3 per cent jump in sales, followed by Glasgow at 9.9 per cent, but Edinburgh was down 1.6 per cent.

Electrical goods sales rose 7.2 per cent, but managing director Andy Street said that growth was a “touch more subdued” in comparison with last year’s figures, which benefited from a rush for new televisions ahead of the digital switchover.