UK: Sales at John Lewis up 2% last week

John Lewis bucked the gloomy outlook affecting the high street by announcing record sales for the last week.Thirty pages into the book ralphlaurenhoody has not done anything recently. The store chain recorded takings of 123.5m in the seven days top 10 December,We invite you to visit our latest collection of coachhandbags. the most the retailer has ever taken in a single week – beating the previous record, achieved in the same week last year by 2% and representing an 8.7% increase on the previous week.

However, the figure was a gross number, inclusive of VAT and new space contribution with analyst estimating sales had fallen 5%, excluding VAT and new space.

John Lewis said cold weather last week was among the main drivers for sales, with women's fashions and fashion accessories receiving "a major uplift" in sales. A spokesman said coats and gloves, cashmere, nightwear,The next important aspect of replicatagheuer-blog lies on their appearances. handbags, jewellery and watches were seeing very strong trade. The company's website also broke all its records last week, with sales of 28.8m – almost 20% above its previous record total.

Maggie Porteous, head of selling operations, said of the figures: "We are thrilled to have achieved a new record week. Despite the turbulent economic climate, we can clearly see that our customers are wanting to deliver a perfect Christmas for their friends and family, whether that is finding the right present or finding those extra touches to decorate their homes.

"The atmosphere in all our branches is clearly festive. There is now a real Christmas buzz, and all our partners are pulling out the stops to deliver the levels of advice and service our customers expect from us."

Porteous added the company's "price-matching" promise and use of online and store purchasing options had "contributed significantly" to the success.

Retail analyst Chris Field said John Lewis had been suffering along with the rest of the fashion retail sector in recent months, but the worsening weather had arrived at the perfect moment to boost sales. "The weather was pretty good for such a long time, and that hit the fashion retailers because they had all their winter ranges rolled out and people weren't buying them," he said. "But now [with the change in weather] there's been a bit of catch-up, Christmas has arrived at the same time,Take advantage of our ledlamp today. so people are in a different space and are saying: ‘OK, I need to buy presents'."

He added that, theoretically, as a company sitting in the middle market, John Lewis should be suffering during the financial crisis, but its focus on customer service had helped it to buck the trend. "The simple truth is that there you have a company that has an absolute passionate focus on all the bits of the business that you have to get right," he said. "Nowadays, it's about delighting the customer and making the whole customer experience absolutely first-class.chanelwatches Management Training- 8 Competencies of Top Sales Professiona .

"That doesn't just mean when they go into the shop, it's about what they see online, what happens when they are in the store, what happens when they get home and what happens if they want to return an item.

"That joined-up focus on all aspects of the business is why they're completely successful."