Cold weather boosts sales at John Lewis

A wet summer and Olympic mayhem proved difficult trading for many  retailers, but the latest cold spell has increased sales at John Lewis  almost 27 per cent  to 72.67 million pounds as the cold weather put  customers “in the right mood for shopping. "The holiday shopping season has begun, looking at its figures in the  week to September 29. The high street giant said it saw great  increases from all three buying directorates, it was a strong week all  round.

Online sales surged 48.4% as the website attracted the second highest  number of customer visits ever. Fashion saw “strong increases” across  all categories, particularly kidswear, which jumped 77% as parents  bought coats and warm clothing for their children.

Womenswear sales were up 49% as the new Somerset by Temperley  continued to prove popular. Of the main line stores, Trafford and  Swindon delivered the stand-out performances.

Maggie Porteous, head of John Lewis selling operations stated: “This  week sees the launch of the Christmas department in all of our shops  and that is the signal to our customers to start their Christmas  purchasing in earnest.”