A department store yesterday said last week�s bad weather had driven sales more than 9% higher � but in Glasgow, where the weather was even worse, fear of recession and belt-tightening sent sales tumbling deep into negative territory.

DEPARTMENT store chain John Lewis yesterday said last week's miserable summer weather had driven sales more than 9% higher - but in Glasgow, where the weather was even more miserable, fear of recession and belt-tightening sent sales tumbling deep into negative territory.

The unlisted bellwether of middle-class shopping saw its department store business boost national sales by 9.3% year-on-year in the week to August 9, thanks to softer comparisons and a spate of heavy rain storms, which pushed up footfall and contrasted with a hot, dry week the previous year.

John Lewis said it achieved sales of £47.8m in the week to last Saturday, with strong trading reported in electrical goods and fashion. Electricals sales rose by 14.7% - boosted by strong growth in tele-visions - while fashion was up by 13.7%.

However, in Glasgow, where consumers are apparently spending less, consolidating shopping trips and forgoing discretionary items, sales plunged 7.7% in the week, compared with the same week last year, bestowing upon the Buchanan Galleries behemoth the dubious distinction of being the group's worst-performing store in the UK last week.

Laura McBride, operations manager at the Glasgow store, said: "Last week and the week before were certainly down, but it's a real rollercoaster ride out there and I'm sure we'll be back up before too long.

"Ours is a tale of two halves. While we're experiencing a slowdown on big ticket items - things like washing machines, fridge-freezers, and furniture, no doubt linked to the slowdown in the housing market - clothing and electronics are well up.

"Fashion goods are doing extremely well, and we're expanding that area, introducing Ted Baker into our women's fashion ranges."

She added: "There is no doubt that it's a challenging environment, but it's the same for all retailers. We're optimistic that over the next six months we'll continue to outpace our competitors."

The latest figures from John Lewis, which has 26 department stores mostly in the south of England, are noteworthy because the chain is considered a high-street indicator on the front line of UK retail trends.

However, many observers believe the company, whose staff share in the profits through a partners' scheme, is not representative of the sector because it consistently outperforms its rivals and tends to be sheltered from the full brunt of economic crises by its well-heeled customer base.

Meanwhile, weekly sales in Edinburgh dipped slightly at 1.9% down on the previous year, but sales in oil-rich Aberdeen, where the local economy has continued to boom on the back of high crude prices and growing oil sector activity, climbed 8.1%.

Among other individual UK branches, London's Oxford Street surged 16.3% on a year earlier and Southampton lifted 10.2%. Kent's Bluewater was up 6.7%, Milton Keynes ahead 12.6% and Manchester's Trafford Centre 6.9% higher.

Freddie George, a retail analyst at Seymour Pierce stockbrokers, said the figures boosted market sentiment around B&Q owner Kingfisher and Currys firm DSG International, but were negative for Marks & Spencer.

However, sales growth of just 0.8% at the John Lewis supermarket division Waitrose, versus 7.5% a year ago, meant total sales for the employee-owned partnership were up only 4%, less than the 7.6% increase this time last year.

George added: "The second week of strong positives in the electricals should boost the electrical specialists while the ongoing weaker trend at Waitrose is a pointer of weaker sales at M&S on food."

With the rising price of petrol and food and the persistence of the economic downturn, it is perhaps no surprise that consumers are cutting back on spending - even at John Lewis and Waitrose.

Neither should it come as a surprise that earlier this week the major supermarkets announced a new round of price cuts and Asda reported sales of its budget ranges had jumped by 20% - suggesting shoppers are putting more bargain-priced goods in their trolleys as the economic downturn tightens its grip.

John Lewis yesterday said its online operation continued to do well, with sales during the week 39% stronger than a year earlier - another reflection on the price of fuel.

Nonetheless, Barry Matheson, head of selling development for the chain, said: "It was a really positive week, giving us two weeks of increases in a row at the start of this half year.

"With our stocks looking in good trim, the supply chain working well and the shops ready to maximise the trade that is out there, I feel confident we are in good shape to do the very best we can in an extremely difficult trading climate."

"While the comparisons against us were softer than of late, that in no way detracted from the strength of the performance given the extremely challenging trading conditions we are in."