Recovering John Lewis may open new department stores, ramps up fashion offer

It’s not so long ago that John Lewis was closing some of its department stores and battling a sales slump that tipped it into loss-making territory. But with its recovery now under way, the MD of John Lewis Partnership’s (JLP) department stores unit has said that the company may open new branches as well as adding new fashion brands.

Peter Ruis said in an interview that there are “definitely no plans to close ” stores and that openings are “definitely something we are looking at” with hints of moves into areas of the UK where it’s not previously had a presence. That said, there are no plans for any openings at present.

Underlining the relative confidence of physical store retailers, despite the tough backdrop, he told The Guardian: “The store is a perfect invention, and we’ve seen only too well, coming back from Covid, how people have gravitated back to the stores.”

The company will clearly think carefully about new spaces in the future though, especially after expensive mistakes in the past. The Birmingham Grand Central store, for instance, opened in 2015 and enjoyed a £35 million investment, but was closed during lockdowns then shuttered permanently post-pandemic. John Lewis’s most recent opening was Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,  in 2018.

Having closed 16 sites in total in an effort to get back on track, the former growth superstar is now profitable again. It also has executives with strong retail experience at the helm following criticism of it during a period when its top team had little direct knowledge of store retailing.

Store investment

John Lewis had committed £800 million by 2029 to upgrading its existing stores and that included a big revamp at its Oxford Street, London flagship that was complete last year. Unlike the original plan to devote a lot of the space to offices, the company chose to retain the six floors as sales bounced back. And with former John Lewis fashion boss Ruis returning to the company last year to lead the turnaround, the retailer now feels like a business on the rise.

Ruis said the stores had to be modernised and the company is “getting rid of the old stuffy department store and replacing it with something more experiential”.

That includes the addition of new brands, the deal with Topshop being the highest-profile of these. But collabs with names such as Labrum London and Rejina Pyo have also been important, as have initiatives such as Beauty Hall makeovers, a new Gifting Emporium at Bluewater and a VIP members’ lounge at Oxford Street.

Ruis explained that his task is to bring “radical relevance” to the store estate and the changes at the business are clealry beign seen in womenswear in particular. 

He said there will be “some big, announcements coming” on new brands next year. “The brands are queueing up to come into us, whereas… a few years ago, we were probably trying to convince them. They see all of this change, all this excitement and suddenly the relevance of what we can offer them,” he added.