John Lewis sales dip blamed on weather

Published on Friday 3 July 2009 21:26

SALES at department store chain John Lewis fell 3.7 per cent last week, which the company said was likely to be due to hot weather and popular sporting events keeping shoppers away.

The fall was despite the chain starting its clearance sale last Saturday.

All three Scottish stores performed poorly, with Aberdeen experiencing one of the worst falls in sales at 12 per cent and Edinburgh and Glasgow falling by 11.7 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively.

Nat Wakely, director, of selling operations, said: "A good week at -3.7 per cent, especially in light of the extraordinarily hot weather on Saturday in parts of the country."

The drop follows a 2.2 per cent rise in sales last week.