John Lewis reports that its sales last week were impacted by the timing of Easter in the calendar, which meant one day's less trade in shops this year. As a consequence, sales finished the week down -2.3%.
However, when comparing the two weeks of trade around Easter this year versus last year, sales were up 9.4%.
The lack of comparable Easter trade had an impact on the Home category, which was down 6.6% on last year. However, big ticket items, such as beds at +26.7% and dining furniture at +3.7%, performed well. Over the two-week Easter period, Home was "very strong" at +8.1%, with Furniture and seasonal gifting particular highlights.
