Major changes are planned at John Lewis – here’s everything you need to know
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Sharon White, the chairman of the John Lewis Partnership which also runs Waitrose, told The Sunday Times that the department store chain had ‘lost its mojo’, adding: “I want the opportunity to say, ‘Look, we lost our way’ and tell a story of a fundamentally different business.”
Sheffield’s John Lewis store reopened on July 30 following the relaxation of lockdown restrictions. Councillors have approved a proposed deal to keep the shop in the city as part of the Heart of the City II redevelopment scheme – this would allow the authority to buy out John Lewis’ long-term ‘nominal’ lease on its building in Barker’s Pool, enter into a new 20-year agreement for the site with a rent based on turnover, and give the retailer money towards the cost of revamping the shop.
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Hide AdThe strategy, a report said, would ‘safeguard a significant number of jobs’ at the former Cole Brothers store.
White’s plan comes after she announced the permanent closure of eight John Lewis branches, including a £35 million shop above Birmingham New Street station. She previously said the employee-owned partnership had already entered the Covid-19 crisis with 'weakening profits'.
The ‘never knowingly undersold’ slogan was introduced in 1925 and promises to refund customers the difference if they find the same item on sale for a lower price within 28 days.
However, it does not match prices with online-only retailers, and White said she wants the company to take a ‘digital first’ approach.
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Hide Ad“The proposition is important because it signifies being fair to society,” she said of the price-matching policy. “We’re reviewing it to improve it.”
A new slogan is expected to be in place by October, it has been reported.
White revealed that she is in discussions with ‘developers and investors about partnering to build flats, many of them affordable, on top of existing shops, starting in west London’, and that John Lewis will offer furniture rental at six per cent of the purchase price per month.
“We need to appeal more to modern consumers who are used to subscribing to what they need, not owning it,” she said.
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Hide AdIn a move inspired by Selfridges, White said she will ‘put more Waitrose stores into John Lewis’ and that the retailer would offer new financial services. “If we know couples have young children, we can offer them a junior ISA. If a couple has retired, we can offer good-value equity release on their home.”
She added that anyone who brings back John Lewis clothing to selected John Lewis or Waitrose stores to recycle or donate to charity will get £3 per item, up to a maximum of £9, to spend in those stores or online.