Sales slump at John Lewis

SALES at the Edinburgh branch of John Lewis have suffered a slump but they are still up so far this year, latest figures show.

The branch suffered an 8.1 per cent dip in sales in the week to September 4 when compared to the same week a year earlier.

In the year so far, which is only five weeks old for the partnership, Edinburgh sales nudged 0.8 per cent higher than the first five weeks of last year. Across the UK, the firm posted 57 million of sales for the week, up 5.6 per cent on a year earlier. Stores in England were helped by "back to school" items.