John Lewis to Launch New Format Shop

U.K. department store group John Lewis is launching a new small store format that will focus on home product, including electrical and home technology. It plans some 30 stores.The new format will be a third of the size of a typical John Lewis department s

April 6, 2018

U.K. department store group John Lewis is launching a new small store format that will focus on home product, including electrical and home technology. It plans some 30 stores.

The new format will be a third of the size of a typical John Lewis department store and will sell the retailer’s home, electrical and home technology offer, plus an espresso bar, customer collection and a gift list service.

John Lewis is investing £6 million ($9 million) in this new initiative and the first new shop will open in the autumn in Poole, Dorset.

The 45,000-square-foot selling space will have much smaller support and stock-holding areas than a full-size store.

“This is a significant departure for our business,” says Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis. “Poole will be our first new format shop for 20 years. Like our full-line department stores the new-format John Lewis will bring our differentiated service, inspiring products and great value to a new market.”

“The new format has been based on an enormous

amount of research that 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,” says Gareth Thomas, retail director. “We know our competitors have a much higher level of coverage in the U.K. 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.”

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