Poor start to year for store

The Edinburgh branch of department store chain John Lewis has suffered a poor start to its financial year.

The St James Centre store recorded a 6.8 per cent decline in sales in the week to February 4 – the first week of the firm’s 2012/13 corporate year – compared to the same week of last year.

Its performance was significantly poorer than the company’s UK-wide performance, where sales grew by six per cent to £52.5 million.

The Edinburgh store finished its 2011/12 trading year with sales 0.7 per cent lower than the previous year.