John Lewis, the department store, will this week reveal a stellar Christmas trading performance, with takings in the past week up 30% on last year. Bumper sales of widescreen televisions, white goods and beds have eclipsed last year’s figures, proving shoppers have shrugged off dire economic warnings and hit the sales in increasing numbers. The number of shoppers visiting Britain’s malls on New Year’s Day was up 9% on 2009.

On Tuesday John Lewis, considered by analysts to be a retail bellwether, will confirm takings in the last week are up nearly a third on last year. Likewise, Waitrose, the supermarket division of the John Lewis partnership, saw sales in the week to Boxing Day up 20.5% on last year. Mark Price, Waitrose’s managing director, confirmed sales growth was consistently up in the high teens in the weeks leading up to Christmas, buoyed by the launch of a comprehensive discount range, tens of millions of pounds invested in price promotions and free delivery for internet shoppers. “We’ve had a fantastic run,” Price said.

The retail surge should be maintained on Wednesday when Marks and Spencer is expected to announce its first underlying sales growth in more than two years.

Major retailers have thrived thanks to a number of high profile stores going under over the past year.

Shoppers have also been out in force to beat a rise in VAT from 15% to 17.5% that came in on Friday (1 January), although many big retailers such as Topshop are delaying passing on the rise to consumers until later in the year. Fear of the VAT rise combined with post-Christmas sales have led to a surge in big ticket purchases on items such as computers and electronic goods.

Barclaycard said on Friday that consumers spent 2.4% more on its credit cards in the final two weeks of the year – a total of £4.09bn, up from £3.99bn for the same period of 2008.

“This is an excellent start to the new year, and it appears so far the VAT increase has had very little if any impact on consumers’ enthusiasm to shop,” said Anita Sharma Manan, quantitative analyst at Experian FootFall.

“This weekend will be critical for retailers as they focus on shifting stock, as next week for many consumers it will be business as usual, and the sales will not be able to continue for too much longer.”

While the major retailers have largely enjoyed a strong Christmas helped by their ability to squeeze suppliers and negotiate favourable rent agreements with landlords, many smaller independent retail businesses are thought to have endured a tough trading period. There are expectations of a high number of firms going into administration in the first quarter of 2010.

And the possibility of rising interest rates and cuts in public spending means the outlook for retailers this year is still gloomy.