THE Scottish John Lewis department stores were among the poorest weekly performers as the group's clearance sale began.
Weekly sales figures to January 3 showed an overall 9.6 per cent increase to £124.3 million.
The online operation was one of the strongest performing units with a 17 per cent rise.
However all the Scottish stores saw a fall in weekly sales. Glasgow was down 3.8 per cent on the week, Edinburgh by 4.3 per cent and Aberdeen came in 9.4 per cent behind.
The only other store to report a fall was the Peter Jones shop, on Sloane Road in London, which saw a 5.1 per cent fall.
The latest figures mean the Scottish stores continue to lag behind the previous financial year.
In the 23 weeks to January 3 Glasgow is running 1.7 per cent down, Edinburgh 2.2 per cent and Aberdeen 6.3 per cent.
Barry Matheson, director of retail services, was pleased with the overall performance.
He said: "Customers took advantage of the longer Christmas holiday to go shopping.
"This impressive first clearance week led to another very busy week for online with sales up 17 per cent year-on-year and click and collect 37 per cent ahead of last year."
The fashion arm was up 27 per cent. Mr Matheson said within that childrenswear was up more than 45 per cent while the accessories and beauty department saw a 28 per cent increase.
The home department showed a 9.5 per cent rise with furniture, textiles, carpets and dining all reporting solid growth.
However electricals and home technology experienced a 0.8 per cent overall fall.
Supermarket Waitrose, also owned by the John Lewis Partnership, saw its weekly sales increase 8.9 per cent to more than £128m.
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