Half-term and cold weather drives John Lewis sales up 17%

Sales at department store John Lewis rocketed 17.2% to £63.3m in the week to February 23, as half-term and cold weather helped to boost performance.

Across the first four weeks of the new financial year, sales were up by “an impressive” 16.8%.

All stores reported an uplift last week, with Nottingham rising 27%, Liverpool 25% and Trafford 26%.

John Lewis relaunched its website in the week, and managed a 20% sales uplift “despite the transition”.

Simon Russell, director, retail operations development, at John Lewis said the relaunch is a “significant milestone and a result of many months of planning and hard work by the IT and online selling teams”.

Electricals again drove overall sales, soaring 33% on last year. Vacuum cleaners, heating and tablets were the standout areas.

Home sales were up 10%, with furniture, accessories and textiles all up double-digit. Seasonal lines were “particularly strong”, with sales of Mother’s Day gifts increasing 87% and Easter ranges rising 20%.

Fashion sales also increased by 10% as the cold weather drove demand in knitwear, while new-season stock including own-brands John Lewis & Co and Kin were “strong” in menswear.

Half-term “stimulated interest in childrenswear”.

Russell added: “Mother’s Day and Easter are the key season’s focus for the next few weeks. We have some great products and are well set to continue our good start to 2013.”

Waitrose, sister retailer of John Lewis, enjoyed a 9.4% sales rise (excluding petrol) to £110.5m, with goods for cooked breakfasts and potatoes for “warming dinners” performing well in the cold weather.

Soup was among the top-performing categories, and the upmarket grocer sold 25% more pairs of tights and 38% more pairs of socks.

However, spring was also in the air last week, as sales of British daffodils increased 50%.

Online sales “continued to be strong”, rising 42%. The retailer will open its first drive-through in Cheltenham in March, followed by services in branches in Southend, Salisbury, Wolverhampton and Lincoln. Shoppers will be able to order groceries online at Waitrose.com and pick them up from a collection area in the branch car park in designated time slots.

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Half-term and cold weather drives John Lewis sales up 17%

Sales at department store John Lewis rocketed 17.2% to £63.3m in the week to February 23, as half-term and cold weather helped to boost performance.

Across the first four weeks of the new financial year, sales were up by “an impressive” 16.8%.

All stores reported an uplift last week, with Nottingham rising 27%, Liverpool 25% and Trafford 26%.

John Lewis relaunched its website in the week, and managed a 20% sales uplift “despite the transition”.

Simon Russell, director, retail operations development, at John Lewis said the relaunch is a “significant milestone and a result of many months of planning and hard work by the IT and online selling teams”.

Electricals again drove overall sales, soaring 33% on last year. Vacuum cleaners, heating and tablets were the standout areas.

Home sales were up 10%, with furniture, accessories and textiles all up double-digit. Seasonal lines were “particularly strong”, with sales of Mother’s Day gifts increasing 87% and Easter ranges rising 20%.

Fashion sales also increased by 10% as the cold weather drove demand in knitwear, while new-season stock including own-brands John Lewis & Co and Kin were “strong” in menswear.

Half-term “stimulated interest in childrenswear”.

Russell added: “Mother’s Day and Easter are the key season’s focus for the next few weeks. We have some great products and are well set to continue our good start to 2013.”

Waitrose, sister retailer of John Lewis, enjoyed a 9.4% sales rise (excluding petrol) to £110.5m, with goods for cooked breakfasts and potatoes for “warming dinners” performing well in the cold weather.

Soup was among the top-performing categories, and the upmarket grocer sold 25% more pairs of tights and 38% more pairs of socks.

However, spring was also in the air last week, as sales of British daffodils increased 50%.

Online sales “continued to be strong”, rising 42%. The retailer will open its first drive-through in Cheltenham in March, followed by services in branches in Southend, Salisbury, Wolverhampton and Lincoln. Shoppers will be able to order groceries online at Waitrose.com and pick them up from a collection area in the branch car park in designated time slots.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Eyes Like Blank Discs - The Guardian's Steven Poole On George Orwell's Politics And The English Language.

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Dodge leads Chrysler to 35th-consecutive month of sales gains in February

AUBURN HILLS- Chrysler Group LLC starts March the way it has every month for nearly three years, with monthly sales gains.

Led by a 30 percent increase in Dodge brand sales, the Auburn Hills-based automaker today reported vehicle sales increased 4 percent last month compared to February 2012, just topping 139,000 cars and trucks sold. It marks Chrysler’s 35th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains and best February sales since 2008.

“In spite of a cautious ramp up of some of our most popular products which limited inventory last month, we still managed to record our strongest February sales in five years and our 35th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth,” said Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales, in a statement. “Looking ahead, we expect to get our inventory gaps corrected over the next 90 days resulting in additional products contributing to our growth.”

February was Dodge’s best February sales in six years and its 21st-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.

Four Dodge brand vehicles set sales records in February, including the Dart compact sedan, Avenger mid-size sedan, Journey full-size crossover and Challenger muscle car.

Michael Wayland | mwayland@mlive.com Simplified product lineup delivers 31 best-in-class highway mpg and more comfort and convenience features standard on new 2013 Chrysler 300, 300S, 300C and 300C Luxury Series models. New Chrysler 300 model features standard heated leather seating, Uconnect 8.4 with voice command and 3.6-liter aluminum Pentastar V-6 engine with state-of-the-art ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, for under $30,000. 2013 Chrysler vehicles gallery (27 photos)

Besides Dodge, sales of all of Chrysler's other brands were flat or down, showing the automaker's sales levels may finally be leveling out. Ram and Fiat brand sales were each up 2 percent compared to February 2012; Chrysler brand sales were down 7 percent; and Jeep sales were down 16 percent.

Overall, the February sales put the stamp on a pretty good week for Chrysler, which  on Thursday announced it will hire 1,250 new workers and invest $374 million to build fuel-efficient eight- and nine-speed transmissions in Indiana.

Chrysler sold 256,746 vehicles through February, a 9 percent increase from the same time period last year.

Top five Chrysler models by units sold in February:

1. Ram pickup- 23,289

2. Chrysler 200- 11,446

3. Dodge Grand Caravan-10,415

4. Dodge Charger- 10,301

5. Jeep Wrangler- 10,091

Top five Chrysler models by year-over-year sales in February (units sold):

1. Dodge Avenger- 52% (9,980)

2. Dodge Charger- 41% (10,301)

3. Dodge Durango- 38% (4,749)

4. Jeep Compass- 36% (3,776)

5. Dodge Challenger- 34% (4,911)

Auto analyst research firms TrueCar.com and LMC Automotive predict U.S. vehicle sales in February to increase about 6 percent from a year ago to 1.2 million.

LMC Automotive predicts retail sales this month to reach 931,100 units, which would be 9 percent higher than in February 2012 and would translate to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 12.1 million units, up from last February’s 11.7 million unit pace, but weaker than the 13.1 million-unit retail pace in January 2013.

Chrysler is the first of the Detroit Three to report its February sales. General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and non-domestic automakers are scheduled to release their results later today.

Check back to MLive.com/auto later today for more information of February sales.

Email Michael Wayland: MWayland@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/MikeWayland

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Full-size pickup truck sales expected to tow auto industry to strong February

Michael Wayland | mwayland@mlive.com 10. Chevrolet Cruze- 14,524 Best-selling Detroit Three vehicles of January 2013 gallery (10 photos)

DETROIT- The U.S. auto industry is expected to remain resilient this month with sales topping last year’s strong February numbers.

TrueCar.com and LMC Automotive analysts say sales of new cars and trucks are expected to come in at about 1.2 million in February, up nearly 6 percent from a year ago.

TrueCar.com senior analyst Jesse Toprak attributes the expected increase to the “unusual strength” of the full-size truck segment.

“Pent up demand for pickup trucks by small businesses will be a critical factor in this year's continued sales recovery,” he said in a statement.

Pickup truck sales, according to industry experts, have continued to pick up in recent months thanks to easier lending and the recovering housing market.

LMC Automotive predicts retail sales this month to reach 931,100 units, which would be 9 percent higher than in February 2012 and would translate to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 12.1 million units, up from last February’s 11.7 million unit pace, but weaker than the 13.1 million-unit retail pace in January 2013.

Fleet deliveries are expected to remain at the same level as in January—accounting for 21 percent of the sales mix, according to the automotive forecasting firm.

The majority of automakers, including the Detroit Three, reported January sales of double-digit gains from the same time in 2012, combining for overall auto sales topping 1 million last month, up about 14 percent from a year ago.

Toprak earlier this month said he doesn’t “see too much of a downside risk” this year regarding U.S. auto sales.

Positive forces for the industry, such as the stock market, low interest rates, new products and pent-up demand, are all expected to continue to help the industry sell about 15.5 million vehicles this year.

General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group LLC and foreign automakers are all expected to report their February sales on Friday.

Check back to MLive.com/auto tomorrow for more details on February sales.

Email Michael Wayland: MWayland@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/MikeWayland

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