David Jones is upbeat ahead of the busy Christmas season as the upmarket department store chain enjoys a healthy post-election boost in sales.
Chief executive Paul Zahra said the company was waiting for consistent consumer sentiment results following a bumper month in September.
"We're well placed for a good Christmas, however consumers remain fickle and we remain cautious as a result," Mr Zahra told a first quarter sales conference call.
"Until there's consistent and sustainable positive consumer sentiment it's hard to call."
He said the business was well prepared to capitalise on the important Christmas and clearance trading periods through new merchandise partnerships with iconic UK brands Harrods and Liberty.
David Jones plans to use a New York agency to run its Christmas advertising campaign.
Still, Mr Zahra said uncertainty around white collar jobs was concerning.
During the September quarter, luxury fashion, beauty and youth shoppers drove a 2.1 per cent lift in sales to $424.2 million.
That figure could have been healthier if it wasn't for the underperforming electronics division.
The retailer's shares received a 6.6 per cent lift to close at $2.90 on Friday.
Almost 80 per cent of David Jones non-CBD stores are now located in coalition electorates, while a buoyant share market and property market have helped sales.
"Households balance sheets are healthy but there's still a level of uncertainty because people are waiting to see what new policies the government might annunciate," Mr Zahra said.
"In the meantime, the change of government has had some positive impact to our customers."
The luxury end of the business continued to drive good results, with double digit rises among Australian designers.
Meanwhile, online sales increased 10-fold during the quarter, but they only made up around one per cent of overall sales.
NSW and Victoria had been the strongest performing areas, with the ACT the weakest.
Mr Zahra said the online store was gaining significant traction with positive quarter on quarter results after a year of trading.
Share
