Waitrose has continued to drag down John Lewis Partnerships sales over the past week, as the wet weather across the bank holiday weekend hurt sales.
In the week to August 25 the group saw sales edge down 0.7 per cent to £210.7 million, compared to the same period last year.
Once again, its grocery arm Waitrose performed worse, with sales for the week excluding fuel dropping 2.2 per cent year-on-year.
The largest drop was in ambient foods, which saw sales fall 3.6 per cent. The wet weather reportedly pushed peopled towards “cold-weather related foods” like roast dinners.
Meanwhile John Lewis saw stable growth of 1.7 per cent, with fashion boosting overall sales skyrocketing eight per cent year-on-year as new season ranges were introduced.
Beauty, wellbeing and leisure also well outperformed other sectors, seeing a 17.9 per cent growth which the retailer attributed to its price matching policy.
Although home sales took a 2.1 per cent hit, John Lewis’ own brand House saw sales rise 11.6 per cent thanks to a strong performance from bedroom and bath.
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