Snowless Aberdeen ahead as Lewis slips

ABERDEEN was John Lewis’s best-performing department store last week after its performance was flattered by last year’s heavy snow.

Sales in the North-east branch rose by 14.2 per cent year on year in the week to 26 November, beating Newcastle’s snow-free 10.4 per cent rise.

The other Scottish branches didn’t fare too well, with Edinburgh’s sales down 6.3 per cent and Glasgow 3.5 per cent lower – worse than the 3.2 per cent fall reported for the chain as a whole. Online sales grew by 17.7 per cent, boosted by discounts on Apple’s iPad.