Sales at John Lewis department stores fell 9.9 per cent to£41.9 million. At supermarket Waitrose, sales also dipped 15.8 per cent to£65.4 million in the week to April 14.
John Lewis director of retail Patrick Lewis said: 'The fall of Easter does not make comparisons with last year easy. All our [John Lewis] shops, bar Edinburgh, were closed on Sunday and that made up the full 10 per cent difference versus last year.
'Adjusting for the fall of the calendar, our like-for-like growth was a respectable 3 per cent above last year. Modest compared to the exciting increases of the past six months, but not surprising given the distraction of beautiful weather. Footfall was down on previous weeks and customers tended to purchase and leave rather than browse.'
He added that catering is a good barometer and its takings across the whole business were down 20 per cent on last year.
However, the retailer revealed online sales rocketed 37.7 per cent during the week.
Waitrose customer development director Tony Solomons said: 'The spring sunshine strongly influenced sales during the Easter trading period. Many customers went away for a holiday.
'However, those at home made the most of the weather with an early start to the barbecue season and a high demand for steaks, burgers, salads, cold meats, wines, beers and soft drinks.'
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