John Lewis winning in challenging market, boss says

John Lewis, Britain's largest department store operator, is outperforming a challenging market as it approaches the key Christmas trading period, its boss said on Friday.British consumers' discretionary spending is under pressure from rising inflation, subdued wage growth and ongoing uncertainty in the UK economy."Consumer confidence is in quite a challenged place ... It is not a market for the faint-hearted at the moment," said Paula Nickolds, the company's managing director.