The credit crunch means that the news always has more than its fair share of doom and gloom – so much so that we seem to be talking ourselves into a recession. At times like this, it’s important to find reasons to be cheerful.
And it seems that Easter falling early is one of those reasons. We won’t be able to fully untangle the like-for-likes until the end of April, but, so far, both my shops have beaten the Easter week figures from last year. We had some great seasonal merchandise that caught our customers’ eyes. It just highlights how an exciting new assortment can really make the tills jingle. I know that garden centres were crossing their fingers for a beautiful, sunny Easter, but I was doing my rain dance and it worked. The inclement weather certainly kept customers out of their gardens and in our shops.
New competition isn’t usually a reason to be cheerful. However, it can be an opportunity. Barton Square, the home furnishings addition to the Trafford Centre, opened a couple of weeks ago and the much improved home offering has proved to be a real draw for customers and we have seen a large increase in footfall.
We have a number of new direct competitors to John Lewis, but we have really taken advantage of the additional footfall by ensuring we offer exceptional customer service, backed up by a really exciting assortment that inspires our customers to spend money. It’s basic stuff, but it is proving to be a successful formula.
By Maggie Porteous, John Lewis, Manchester
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