John Lewis posts weekly sales drop

The high street bellwether said its sales fell 1.4 per cent year-on-year to £54.3m in the week to May 7 and were down three per cent excluding VAT. Sales at its Sheffield store plunged 12.3 per cent.

“Last week was the first real like-for-like week this year, after a first quarter where calendar events, royal weddings and the warmest April on record made it difficult to compare sales,” said Susanne Given, the firm’s fashion buying director.

John Lewis said fashion sales were up 4.9 per cent year-on-year, helped by the royal wedding.

However, the robust performance in fashion was offset by a 5.6 per cent sales fall in the home category and a 3.3 per cent decline in electricals and home technology.

“The latest John Lewis weekly data reinforce our belief that the apparent spike up in retail sales in April should not be taken as a sign that the consumer is coming strongly back to life,” said Global Insight chief economist Howard Archer.