Up-to-date coverage of the latest events in UK retail.

John Lewis partnership weekly sales slump

Waitrose & Partners weekly sales fell 2.5% for the week to May 4 which was attributed to the drop-in temperature.

The grocer’s ambient food sales were down 0.6% for the same period as non-ambient and home & general merchandise sales dropped 2.8% and 9.7% respectively.

John Lewis & Partners total sales declined 2.6% for the period due to price matching a competitor the previous year.

Home sales slumped 9.1% and fashion sales declined 2.1% during the week.

The department stores electricals & home technology sales recorded a slight uptick of 1.7%.

Total sales for the partnership slumped 2.5% to £214.66m.

Debenhams braced for crunch CVA vote

Debenhams’ creditors will today vote on the beleaguered department store’s CVA plans.

The struggling retailer was put into a pre-pack administration last month and plans to close 22 stores next year with around 30 more stores to close over the coming years.

All stores will remain open throughout 2019. Each proposal needs the support of 75% or more of creditors to be approved.

Select set to collapse into administration

Select is set to enter administration this week, just a month after Retail Week revealed it had filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.

Quantuma LLP has been lined up to handle the administration process, which would leave the future of Select’s 180 stores and 2,000 workers hanging in the balance.

It comes less than a year after creditors voted through a CVA designed to slash rents and preserve the future of the struggling fashion business.

Quantuma, which also handled the CVA, said at the time that Select’s troubles “reflect the current prevailing issues for businesses trading on the high streets”.