John Lewis, Britain’s biggest department store group, this morning laid bare the impact that the recent snow has had on retailers with its first decline in weekly takings since last August.
Stores saw takings plummet by up to 32 per cent against the same week last year.
But Waitrose, John Lewis’s sister chain, saw sales soar 22 per cent as consumers stocked up on food and essential goods.
The employee-owned retailer, taken as a barometer of the high street because of the breadth of its offer and the frequency of its trading updates, has been enjoying roaring trade for the past three months.
Trade hit record levels at Christmas, easily surpassing pre-recession levels.
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But in the week to January 9, sales fell by 2.7 per cent. In an indication that internet retailers will have profited as shoppers avoided venturing outdoors, takings at its website rose by 55 per cent.
Its Reading store saw sales fall by 32 per cent, while takings at High Wycombe fell by 28 per cent.
Andrew Murphy, John Lewis’s director of operational development, said: “In perhaps the toughest week of a cold and snowy winter, it was heartening to see that Partners across the business were able to overcome even the very worst of British weather”.
Waitrose, the upmarket supermarket chain that is part of the John Lewis Partnership, saw an uplift in sales by contrast.
Convenience stores have also performed well during the snow, with Spar, the franchise retailer, reporting strong sales growth over Christmas.
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Mothercare said yesterday that the snow had taken 1 per cent off its sales over Christmas, as customers avoided unnecessary shopping trips.
DSG International, the owner of Currys and PC World, said that high street stores outperformed out-of-town locations.
John Browett, the DSG chief executive, said yesterday: “Some shopping centres in towns did quite well all through that period.
“It was the out-of-town shopping centres that found it more difficult, so snow is good for the high street.”