The John Lewis Partnership in the United Kingdom announced recently that it is not planning to reopen eight of its 42 John Lewis shops from lockdown, as it rebalances its store estate to reflect how customers want to shop. The partnership also confirmed plans to transfer the running of its Waitrose distribution centre in Leyland to US company XPO Logistics.

“Our remaining 34 John Lewis shops will reopen from 12 April subject to government guidance, with the exception of Glasgow, which will reopen from 26 April, and Edinburgh, which will reopen on 14 May,” the partnership said in a statement.

The eight shops identified for closure include four ‘At Home’ shops in Ashford, Basingstoke, Chester and Tunbridge Wells and four department stores in Aberdeen, Peterborough, Sheffield and York.

“We will enter into consultation with the 1,465 affected partners about our proposals. Should we proceed, we will make every effort to find alternative roles in the Partnership for as many partners as possible,” the statement added.

This follows substantial research to identify and cater for new customer shopping habits in different parts of the country. As part of this, the partnership can no longer profitably sustain a large John Lewis store in some locations where it does not have enough customers, which is resulting in the proposed closures. The eight shops were financially challenged prior to the pandemic.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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