In what can only be seen as more encouraging news for the retail sector, department store chain John Lewis has reported its best ever weekly sales.
The group took £102.4m last week, beating the previous weekly sales record, set back in 2007, by more than £1m. Plus, it was the earliest in the Christmas season that John Lewis sales had topped £100m. Toys and games were obviously star performers, but encouragingly, the spending trend appears to be spreading to home enhancement products as well.

As previously reported, sales for the week ending November 21 saw ho9me department sales increase 15.5% on 2008, while furniture saw an impressive 32% increase on sales for the previous year.

Big-ticket items were also ploughing ahead, with kitchens and large electrical both up 20% on last year, suggesting that consumer confidence may be returning across the board.