John Lewis eases high street gloom after sales rise 6.4%

DEPARTMENT store chain John Lewis yesterday brought some cheer to Britain's battered retail industry after bouncing back from two weeks of sales declines.

The employee-owned group reported a 6.4 per cent rise in weekly sales, compared with the year-ago period.

John Lewis, which also runs Waitrose supermarkets, said sales for the week ended 22 March were even stronger when compared with the Easter-holiday week last year.

On this basis, sales were up 7 per cent, with Good Friday netting a rise of 29 per cent and Saturday up 17 per cent.

A spokesman for the chain said: "All in all, a cracking week which has lifted March's overall sales performance to beat that which we saw in February.

"It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks pan out, with the different falls of school holidays, both year-on-year and around the country, not to mention the highly-seasonal weather."

John Lewis's weekly sales figures are closely watched as an indicator of broader trends on the high street.

The partnership said sales at its Waitrose stores leapt 27.6 per cent in the week to 22 March, taking the total rise for the group to 19.2 per cent over the same period last year.