Web surge helps tip Lewis scales

Retailer John Lewis managed to grow its sales last week despite the riots south of the Border as customers who were put off visiting city centre stores turned to shopping online.

The department store chain said total sales excluding VAT grew by 1.3 per cent in the seven days to 13 August, compared with the same week a year earlier. Online sales surged 35 per cent, making up for declines at some stores.

Sales at Waitrose, which is owned by John Lewis Partnership, were up 8.4 per cent. The supermarket said the return of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fish Fight programme on Channel 4, which along with sunny weather helped boost sales of fish. Sales of Cornish pollock were up tenfold on last year.

Head of online selling at John Lewis, Jonathon Brown, said beds and mattresses, fashion and electricals were among the strongest performing areas.

He added: “Considering the events of last week on our streets and in the financial markets it was a solid performance across the directorates and channels.”

John Lewis’ “at home” store in Croydon was broken into last Monday night and remained closed on Tuesday, but did not affect the like-for-like sales figures as it is a new outlet.

Brown said: “A team of dedicated partners worked hard to ensure the shop was ready to trade on Wednesday and we should all be proud of efforts in Croydon and across our stores to maintain the high quality of service that we offered to our Croydon customers last week.”

John Lewis stores in Edinburgh and Aberdeen saw sales decline by 2 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively. However, Glasgow was among the group’s strongest performers with a 6.1 per cent rise.