Flagship stores upbeat after last-minute sales surge

Department store chain John Lewis said it saw record sales growth last week as customers flocked to its "clearance" sale. Its takings were up 30 per cent on last year in the week to last Saturday and its first day of its clearance, 27 December, was the best in its history. Sales of electricals and home technology soared by more than 40 per cent.

A spokeswoman said the flagship John Lewis in Oxford Street and Peter Jones in Sloane Square had had bumper weeks.Managing director Andy Street said he was "encouraged" but expected "the next few months to be extremely tough".

It was a similar story at Regent Street store Liberty, which said its sales in the first 10 months of last year were better than a year earlier. Last month had also been much better than expected.

But City analysts warned against reading too much into the encouraging figures because they reflected the growing trend towards last-minute buying with consumers holding out as long as possible in the hope of picking up bargains.

City trading statements from high street names such as Next, Debenham and Marks & Spencer this week are expected to paint a less rosy picture, with M&S expected to unveil a drop in sales in its statement on Wednesday.

Latest footfall figures published today show that over the first three full days of New Year sales total shopper numbers were 2.7 per cent ahead of last year.

But analysts Experian, which collected the figures, warned that this year's turnout was boosted by many people taking Friday as an extra days holiday whereas they had mostly returned to work by then last year.

British Retail Consortium spokesman Richard Dodd said: "Our impression is the initial flurry that happened with the start of the post-Christmas sales is now fizzling out. While footfall is important, what actually matters is how much customers are spending and the extent to which retailers have to discount to generate that spending."