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Department store chain John Lewis, a bellwether for Middle England, is seeing its outlets in the south of the country perform much better than in the north.
Weekly sales at the flagship Oxford Street store were up 14% while Peter Jones in Sloane Square rose 16% — despite both still finishing refurbishment work in their womenswear departments.
The group's Bluewater store was another strong performer, up 13% in the week before the August Bank Holiday.
But a north-south divide emerged as the Newcastle branch dived 9%, Aberdeen was down 3.8%, Sheffield fell 2.2% and Edinburgh slipped 1.5%.
Sales across the group's 30 outlets rose 12.2% to £57.8 million in the week and are up by the same percentage across August — boosted by the opening of a new store in Croydon selling home furnishings.
John Lewis said customers were not only buying school gear before the start of term but also splashing out on Apple iPads and other computers.
Fashion and furnishings were both up 16% to 17%. Online sales rose a punchy 30%.
The group's Waitrose food chain saw sales rise 6.8% to £90.2 million.
Other retailers are doing well by appealing to affluent customers. DSG International, owner of Currys and PC World, yesterday reported a 6% rise in sales thanks to a World Cup price promotion on TV sets worth more than £699.
