Bluewater branch reports 73% increase in sales of furniture, while fitted kitchens and bedroom furniture boosts sales in home category across the board.
The department store chain reported an 18.1% jump in sales for the week to March 13, with every day seeing a double-digit increase - peaking on Friday and Saturday with last minute gift buying for Mother's Day. Within this buying surge, gardening gifts did extremely well.

However. John Lewis director of operational development Andrew Murphy explained; "Even without Mother's Day, our underlying trade was powerful and we expect another advance this week."

Home sales were up 20% this month, with fitted kitchens and bedroom furniture performing especially well. John Lewis' Bluewater store posted a 31.8% increase for the past week, with furniture sale sup 73%.

Online sales were just as impressive, jumping 42% for the seven-day period. Home categories also sold well online, especially products in the cooking and dining and textiles and carpets categories.