John Lewis Edinburgh store set to be a UK top 15 performer

JOHN Lewis believes its Edinburgh store is set to become one of the 15 best performing department stores in the entire UK this year, with sales set to exceed £100 million for the financial year.

The staff-owned chain does not officially disclose individual store sales, but the 100m figure is expected to be breached for the first time in the year ending 28 January, after another bumper Christmas period across its three Scottish stores.

The chain, which has stores in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, said its Scottish sites recorded sales growth of 8 per cent between 27 December and 2 January, following growth in Scottish sales of 10 per cent from 1 December to Christmas Eve.

A spokesman for the group said this year's pre-Christmas Scottish figures were especially pleasing - last year it had seen a 12 per cent rise during the same period, and there had been fears that was a flash in the pan.

"But when you get double-digit growth on top of double-digit, that's especially pleasing," the spokesman said.

Sales in Aberdeen have also been record-breaking. In the first 49 weeks of the current financial year, the store has exceeded its entire turnover for the previous year, with sales passing 50m for the first time during the Christmas clearance sales.

The company said the recent figures were consistent with the growth the Scottish stores had shown for the past nine months.

Initiatives this Christmas period have included taking extra space in Edinburgh's St James centre for furniture, selling more than 160 items in clearance sales.

The bumper performance is expected to benefit staff. Last year more than 64,000 "partners" were awarded a bonus equivalent to 15 weeks' pay. A spokesman said yesterday the bonus would be more than last year, "barring some unexpected last-minute disaster".

Nationwide, the co-operative chain has been a star performer of the retail sector. John Lewis said UK sales grew 8.2 per cent to 77m from 27 December to 2 January.

The festive period is expected to be less lucrative for many other retailers. Analysts from Evolution Securities yesterday predicted average retail sales in December would be 1-2 per cent above December 2005.