SALES RECORD FOR JOHN LEWIS

HIGH street favourite John Lewis smashed sales records over the festive period with almost £ 700million rung up on its tills.

The department store chain yesterday revealed a 14.8 per cent rise in total sales to £ 684.8million in the five weeks leading up to December 29.

John Lewis shifted £ 158million of goods in the week leading up to Christmas – the first time the chain has sold more than £ 150million of stock in a week.

And the group had its best first day of post- Christmas sales, with £ 31.7million sales on December 27.

Meanwhile, John Lewis sales online rose by 44 per cent in 2012.

THE boss of John Lewis said the retail market had performed better than expected as the department stores racked up record sales over Christmas.

Against a tough high- street climate staff- owned John Lewis saw total sales climb by nearly 15 per cent to £ 684.8million in the fi ve weeks to December 29.

Electrical goods and home technology saw a 30.9 per cent rise in sales driven by demand for tablet computers such as iPads while fashion and beauty products were up 10.4 per cent and home products were up 6.2 per cent. Online sales jumped a staggering 44.3 per cent as the fi rm’s website generated a quarter of group sales

Managing director Andy Street said: “I think John Lewis has outperformed the market by a mile but the market has been stronger than people thought. Retailers who will have done well will be those who have a good combination of bricks and clicks.”

Weekly sales breached £ 150million for the fi rst time in the week up to December 22 and the fi rst day of their clearance sale on December 27 hit a record £ 31.7millon.

Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight, said many people delayed Christmas shopping in the hope of getting bargains but warned interest in the new year sales could quickly fade.