Electricals strong, but Waitrose hit by late Easter
Like-for-like sales rose at John Lewis Department stores last week, despite the loss of a day's trading on Easter Sunday.

For the week ending April 22, sales were up 2.8 per cent on last year and 8 per cent compared with the week following Easter last year.

Electricals and home technology performed the best, up 23.4 per cent. Television sales were particularly strong. Womenswear was up 5 per cent and menswear casual brands also continued to grow.

However, year-on-year sales at the group's supermarket chain Waitrose were hit by the late Easter. Like-for-like sales were down 2.4 per cent despite 'sound trading on Easter Monday and above-average sales on Tuesday and Wednesday'. For the year so far, like-for-like sales are up 8.9 per cent at Waitrose.