Nov 14 - The employee-owned firm, seen as a bellwether of Britain's retail sector, said on Sunday sales at its department stores rose 11.5 percent week-on-week to 77 million pounds ($124 million) in the seven days to Nov. 13.

John Lewis in Oxford Street

"With very strong figures from last year against us, our results last week are a clear sign that the steep sales climb towards Christmas has begun in earnest," managing director Andy Street said.

The group recently raised its Christmas sales forecast, saying its core middle-income shoppers would be less affected by austerity measures than at first feared.


(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Dan Lalor)