City stores flying the flag for John Lewis

JOHN Lewis's two Central Belt department stores have notched up weekly sales gains thanks to strong TV sales in the run up to next month's digital switch over.

Glasgow's overall sales for the week to 14 May were up 1 per cent year-on-year while Edinburgh edged up 0.1 per cent. The performance from the two Scottish stores helped the chain to post a sales rise of 0.1 per cent for the UK as a whole, turning round the previous week's 1.4 per cent fall.

Aberdeen's John Lewis branch posted a 3 per cent fall, joining most of the chain's English stores in reporting lower sales figures.

John Lewis retail director Andrew Murphy said: "For the branches it was a 'capital' performance with London - in the guise of Peter Jones - Cardiff and Edinburgh all growing sales on 2010.

"Glasgow was the other branch 'above the line', benefiting from the build-up to digital switchover."

Murphy said strong sales of beach towels and single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras had boosted turnover at the partnership's website by 18 per cent, with technology driving sales at the high street branches.

The employee-owned business said it had sold out of Apple's iPad 2 tablet computers and that demand was high for desk fans designed by Dyson.

But Murphy warned: "Emerging from a long period where true like-for-like comparisons have been virtually impossible to determine (due to Easter and the royal wedding], we are confronted by an undoubtedly challenging retail market."

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "The fact that John Lewis' department store sales were essentially only flat year-on-year after dipping in the previous week suggests consumers are now tightening their belts again after being encouraged to splash the cash a bit more in April by Easter, the royal wedding and improved weather."