John Lewis sees record take of £31.7m on first day of sale

Britain’s biggest department stores group reported sales of £684.8m for the five weeks to December 29, including a record take of £31.7m for the first day of its sales in stores on December 27.

Like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of new stores, rose 13 per cent.

John Lewis has traditionally outperformed its high-street rivals in recent years due to its strong online offering, new modern stores and more affluent customer base.

Online sales for the five weeks rose 44.3 per cent on a year ago, and now accounted for a quarter of the total John Lewis business, the employee-owned group said yesterday.

Electrical and home technology sales were 30.9 per cent up, it said, while fashion and beauty increased 10.4 per cent.

Managing director Andy Street said: “I am delighted that John Lewis has delivered record-breaking sales figures over the Christmas period and the first five days of clearance.

“In an economic climate which continues to be volatile, to have achieved these results is testimony to the strength of the John Lewis brand and the commitment of all our partners to give outstanding service.”

John Lewis has a large department store at Sheffield’s Meadowhall and is in talks to anchor a new shopping development in Leeds. Plans to develop a compact store in York are underway.

A spokeswoman for the retailer said: “We were pleased with the last week of Christmas trading in Sheffield – sales were up 6.5 per cent on the same week last year and continued to be strong into our clearance period.

“Last Thursday and Friday were particularly busy in branch with strong sales of childrenswear and beauty and lots of customers redeeming gift vouchers and making the most of the range of offers available.”

The figures mark the start of a busy reporting period for retailers, with fashion chain Next due to report its festive trading update today.

High street bellwether Marks & Spencer reports next week, with supermarkets Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco also revealing how well they fared.

The figures from John Lewis reinforce expectations that the sector enjoyed a late pick-up in sales, but experts are predicting a mixed performance.

Broker Jefferies warned of a 2.8 per cent like-for-like sales decline at Bradford-based Morrisons.