In lead up to Christmas.

Woolworths Holdings, parent company of David Jones, has confirmed a 1% sales increase for the 26 weeks ended 23 December 2018. This compares to a 2.9% rise in sales in the first 20 weeks of the year, revealed in a trading update from November.

Sales performance weakened in the final weeks leading to Christmas, in line with the rest of the retail market. Comparable store sales grew by 0.9% with growth from new stores largely offset by sales disruption from the Elizabeth Street store refurbishment. Further net space reductions are planned to imrpove the productivity of the store portfolio.

Online sales have grown by 46.1% and now contribute 7.7% of total sales.