facebook rss twitter

John Lewis to open new, smaller shops

by Scott Bicheno on 7 May 2009, 13:03

Tags: John Lewis

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qar47

Add to My Vault: x

Playing to its strengths

Department store John Lewis has announced it will be trialling a new store format that will be a third of the size of its current stores and focus on the home sector, which includes IT and consumer electronic products.

The Trial store will be opened in Poole, Dorset, this October, with its performance over the Christmas period expected to be the primary influence on whether to open more such stores next year. John Lewis has its eye on 30 other locations.

"The new format has been based on an enormous amount of research, which showed us that there are areas of the country where consumers wanted to be able to shop at a John Lewis branch within a 40 minute journey of their home," said retail director, Gareth Thomas.

"We know our competitors have a much higher level of coverage in the UK than we do and our research has shown that there are growth opportunities for our business in smaller format shops, giving our customers more convenient access to John Lewis products."

John Lewis is focusing on the home sector because that's the strongest part of its business, according to its PR department. It will be interesting to see how well it does in areas with a PC World/Currys or Comet presence.

Here are a couple of clever bits of CGI showing how the Poole store should look.

 

 

 



HEXUS Forums :: 7 Comments

Login with Forum Account

Don't have an account? Register today!
(I would post a lolcat, but I'm on mobile broadband and can't be bothered going to hunt but…)

This is relevant to my interests!

I love JohnLewis :D
Great idea, but if you are building a new store on a retail park, surely you'd go for as large as possible to offer more products and not down scale.
Johnlewis are great :D

Was in the new liverpool store yesterday and they have loads of cool stuff.

Got my new tv from there a swell :D
Excellent just what we needed.

Honestly John Lewis has to be one of the best bricks and mortar stores out there, and it shows with their financial results! Even the staff are well educated and know what they are talking about, rather than the hard sell.
Just a damn shame there isn't a JL or Waitrose near to where I live atm.
muddyfox470
….

Just a damn shame there isn't a JL or Waitrose near to where I live atm.
You surprised me with that, 'cos I thought I know there's a Waitrose in Durham (Gates Centre), having driven up there two or three times a couple of years ago to do some work ….. and as it's a five+ hour drive each way, it was “memorable”.

It turns out though, they closed it, because it traded at a loss for two years since they bought the store in the Safeway/Morrisons sort-out. Shame. But I suppose nobody will trade at a loss for too long.

Leaves me feeling very smug that I live about a ten minute walk from a Waitrose, and use it all the time. :D


I agree about JL though. In my opinion, one of the best (if not THE best) retailer out there. Bought my last TV there. I cost me about £10 more than the local Comet ….. but came with free delivery (which Comet wanted to charge for) and a free 5 year warranty, which Comet wanted £180 for. Assuming they carry it, and unless I find a much better deal (and I don't just mean better price) somewhere else, the next one is likely to come from there too.