Department store group John Lewis today joined a growing list of retailers to complain of being left cold by the current Indian summer.
John Lewis, which operates 26 stores, said sales growth last week dipped below expectations because of the warm weather and tube strikes in London.
Leading high street names Next and Ted Baker have already told the City how conditions have played a part in keeping winter collections on the shelves.
The CBI added to fears of a slowdown in spending when a survey this week found that the underlying performance on the high street was continuing to cool.
Announcing weekly trading figures, John Lewis said sales in the week to last Saturday were ahead 1.1% on a year earlier compared with 4.1% in a wider nine-week period.
Department stores managing director Luke Mayhew said the sales figures were “well below our current strike rate”.
He added: “The weather and tube strikes did not help trade at all and both Wednesday and Saturday sales were disappointing.
“There were fewer customers shopping and generally those that were, were buying for the home and not for themselves.”
Fashion sales were described as being “slow” while store managers reported weak demand for gloves, hosiery and umbrellas because of the weather.
Stronger results were delivered in the electronics and furniture departments, with beds and upholstery both achieving good figures.
Mayhew added a number of store refurbishment programmes were nearing completion and put John Lewis in a strong position in the run-up to Christmas.
However, he warned the last few weeks demonstrated that sales growth would be “hard won”.
The Waitrose supermarket chain also owned by John Lewis suffered similar problems because of the tube strikes in its London heartland and the weather.
But sales still beat forecasts in the week to last Saturday, up 5.9% on a year earlier and bolstering the nine-week figure to 5% ahead.
Last month John Lewis reported a £10m fall in half-year profits to £34m because of higher pension costs and increased spending on its stores.
However, sales at the 26 department stores, which include branches in Bristol, Reading, Aberdeen and Southampton, still topped the £1bn mark for the first time during the half year.
EGi News 04/10/02
