Consumer economic gloom has driven down sales at John Lewis's upmarket retail stores in and around London, although the partnership's Waitrose shops showed evidence that customers continued to spend on food and drink.

Hardest hit was the John Lewis-owned Peter Jones outlet on London's Sloane Square where sales for the week ended last Saturday were down 12.9 per cent on a year ago.

The fall brought the decline over the first 19 weeks of the group's trading at its flagship London store to 10.5 per cent.

Peter Jones has now suffered a decline in trading in every week of its financial year since the end of January, except for one weekly bounce in trading after this year's early Easter.

John Lewis's Bluewater store in Kent, which serves the commuter belt of the South East, suffered a 7.6 per cent slide in weekly sales, leaving the 19-week performance at one of the partnership's largest stores in the country at an overall decline of 5.4 per cent.

Sales at the John Lewis store at Brent Cross, one of its largest London outlets serving the suburbs of North West London, also fell 7.6 per cent in the week ended June 7. The 19-week decline at the branch stands at 5.1 per cent.

However, a sales resurgence at Oxford Street, the largest London store where John Lewis opened a food hall late last year, and at outlets at Kingston and Edinburgh helped drive overall weekly sales for group up by 2.1 per cent, the first return to positive territory for five weeks.

Sales growth at those stores compensated for weekly falls across the remaining 21 John Lewis and Peter Jones stores.

Andy Banks, head of supply chain and administration at John Lewis, said: "The 2.1 per cent increase was particularly pleasing in the current economic climate. On a two-year basis, the week 19 increase was the third-best improvement of the half, giving real cause for celebration in an increasingly tough market."

While food and drink sales continue to be strong, there were signs of a trading slowdown in Waitrose's non-food items, which posted a 5.9 per cent increase over the four weeks to May 24, compared with a 6.5 per cent increase for the first 17 weeks to May 24, according to today's trading update.

Turnover at Waitrose rose by 5 per cent in the first week of June, increasing the growth over the 19-week period to 7.2 per cent.

Revenue from fashion goods, up 8.4 per cent in the first week in June, and a small increase in sales of electrical and technology products, such as computers, made up for a 4.5 per cent decline in homewares over the week.

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