Weather hampers department store sales
Sales at the John Lewis Partnership soared 17.4 per cent to£132.16 million for the week to April 7, on the back of a strong showing from Waitrose.

Waitrose's sales rocketed 27.8 per cent to£84.42 million, helped by strong trade on Saturday. Waitrose director of selling Geoff Salt said: 'Sales soared last week. They were ahead of Easter week last year.'

However, sales at John Lewis department stores rose just 2.9 per cent to£47.6 million. The retailer attributed the slowdown to the warm weather, which held back trade, especially on Saturday.

John Lewis director of selling support Rob Collins said: 'The earlier fall of Easter makes comparisons more difficult and for a true reflection of our performance we need to look at the period as a whole.'

He added: 'Maintaining compelling promotions combined with outstanding service and availability will ensure that we are well placed to further grow our cumulative position in the weeks ahead.'

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