French Connection warns of loss after Christmas sales fall French Connection, which operates 153 shops worldwide and has 243 licensed and franchised locations, said that 1.9pc of the 2.9pc decline in sales was due to the company's decision to delay the start of its Christmas sale by one week. French Connection said the sale was delayed to "build brand equity" and because it had "tightly controlled" its inventory of stock. Marks & Spencer, Britain's biggest clothing retailer, also blamed a sharp decline in Christmas sales on its decision to avoid widespread discounting. The fall in like-for-like sales comes after French Connection reported a £6.3m pre-tax loss in the first half of its financial year. Mr Marks used the half-year results in September to outline a plan to revitalise French Connection's high street business. This included hiring a new design team, offering a greater range of clothes within stores, and closing loss-making shops. Despite French Connection reporting a fall in sales, online and catalogue-focused fashion retailer N Brown said its like-for-likes sales rose 7.9pc in the 19 weeks to January 12. The company, which focuses on larger sized clothing and whose brands include Jacoma, is attracting younger customers on top of its traditional over-50s market. N Brown now plans to open more shops on top of the seven locations it has trialled in the past year, which is in contrast to the struggles of other high street retailers