Sales fall again for John Lewis

John Lewis has posted falling sales for the third week running. The department store said that sales fell by 2.8 per cent to £44.3m for the week to 24 May.

John Lewis's director of selling operations, Dan Knowles, said: "Not unexpectedly, considering the economic climate, trade this week did not exceed last year's figures."

He added that John Lewis was confident its new shop in Liverpool One, which opened this week, would lift its sales. John Lewis said its fashion offer had buoyed the weekly results with sales up 4.8 per cent against last year.

Sales at Waitrose, John Lewis Partnership stablemate supermarket, rose 4.6 per cent to £79.5m for the week, but the group said said that changeable weather across the country made trade challenging over the bank holiday weekend.