A strong performance in furniture helped boost John Lewis’ sales 8.5% to £69.4m last week taking its growth for its first half to 9.4%.

John Lewis weekly sales 1 August 2014

A strong performance in furniture helped boost John Lewis’ sales 8.5% to £69.4m last week taking its growth for its first half to 9.4%.

Home was the star performer over the week to July 26 with a 13% sales rise, with furniture up 22%.          

John Lewis director of buying and brand Paula Nickolds said: “We rounded off the first half in warm sunshine for most of the UK and strong trade throughout. Total sales in the week were up 9%, in line with our cumulative performance leaving us 9% up for the half. This is a fantastic achievement and provides a superb platform as we look ahead to the rest of the year.”

Fashion sales jumped 10%, helping sales in directorate reach 9% for the first half. Warm weather assortments fared well as customers snapped up items like sunglasses, up 31% for the week.

In electricals and home technology, sales edged up 4% helped by large and small electricals, which both posted growth of more than 20%. Fans did particularly well during the heatwave. For the half, electricals and home technology was the star performer with sales surging 12%.

Online sales jumped 29% for the week and were up 26% up for the half.