John Lewis (department store)

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John Lewis plc
Type Subsidiary
Industry Retail
Genre Department Store
Founded 1864 (1864)
Founder(s) John Lewis
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Key people Andy Street, Managing Director
John Lewis & John Spedan Lewis
Revenue £3330.0 million (2012)[1]
Owner(s) John Lewis Partnership
Employees 38,100
Website johnlewis.com

John Lewis is a chain of upmarket department stores operating throughout Great Britain. The chain is owned by the John Lewis Partnership. The first John Lewis store was opened in 1864 in Oxford Street, London.

The chain is known for its policy of "Never Knowingly Undersold" which has been in use since 1925.[1]

There are currently 43 stores throughout England, Scotland and Wales, including ten new 'At Home' stores, and a new 'flexible format' store in Exeter. The store in Cardiff is the largest currently operated by the Partnership outside London.

On 1 January 2008, the Oxford Street store was awarded a Royal Warrant from Her Majesty the Queen as: "suppliers of haberdashery and household goods".[2] John Lewis Reading is also the holder of a Royal Warrant from the Queen in 2007 as suppliers of household and fancy goods.[3]

Contents

History [edit]

Early history [edit]

The flagship store on Oxford Street began as a drapery shop, opened by John Lewis in 1864. In 1905 Lewis acquired a second store, Peter Jones in Sloane Square, London. His son, John Spedan Lewis, founded the John Lewis Partnership in 1920 after thinking up the idea during his days in charge of Peter Jones. John Spedan Lewis also thought up the idea of the Gazette, the partnership's in-house magazine, first published in 1918.

In 1933 the partnership purchased its first store outside London ~ the long established Jessops in Nottingham. Jessops only rebranded itself as John Lewis on the 27th October 2002. In 1940 the partnership bought Selfridge Provincial Stores. This group of fifteen suburban and provincial department stores included: Cole Brothers, Sheffield; George Henry Lee, Liverpool; Robert Sayle, Cambridge; and Trewins, Watford; all of which continue to trade today but which are now re-branded as John Lewis as well as Caley's, Windsor, which has since closed. In 1953 the famous Reading Department Store Heelas became part of the John Lewis group and remained named as such under the Heelas name until 2001 when it adopted the John Lewis name. Also in 1953 the partnership bought Herbert Parkinson, a textile manufacturer, a business which still makes duvets, pillows and furnishings for John Lewis.[4]

Recent history [edit]

The original Oxford Street shop is still the flagship and largest branch in the partnership. A complete refurbishment of the building was completed in late 2007 at a cost of £60 million. This introduced the new 'Place To Eat' restaurant and a brasserie and bistro in the store. A 'John Lewis Food Hall from Waitrose' opened in the shop's basement in October 2007. A second Food Hall opened at the John Lewis Bluewater store on 6 August 2009.

The refurbishment of the Oxford Street flagship follows on from investment made in other shops across the group over recent years. This has included the renovation of Peter Jones at a cost of £107 million, completed in 2004.[5]

The first John Lewis store constructed as part of a shopping centre was Jessops in Nottingham which has been a feature of Victoria Centre since it opened in 1972. The announcement of an anchor tenant such as John Lewis contributes to the certainty of developers' proposals, and so attracts other retailers to the area.

Many stores acquired by the Partnership retained their original names for several years, including Jessops in Nottingham (its first store outside London), Bonds in Norwich, Trewins in Watford, and Bainbridge's in Newcastle. All have now been rebranded John Lewis, with the exception of Peter Jones and Knight & Lee in Southsea.

The John Lewis Partnership were the first department store group in the UK to adopt central buying, launching the 'Jonell(e)' name for own brand merchandise in 1937. That brand name has gradually been replaced with the 'John Lewis' name since 2001. Additional own brands include John Lewis Collection as well as John Lewis men, women, boy, girl and baby for clothing. A selection of Waitrose own brand products, such as cleaning materials and party stationery, are also available from John Lewis.

Before the relaxation of UK Sunday trading laws, John Lewis stores were well known for closing on Mondays to allow staff a full two day "weekend".

Stores [edit]

Department stores [edit]

As of April 2013, the John Lewis Partnership operated 43 John Lewis stores throughout England, Wales and Scotland.[6] The Oxford Street store, originally opened in 1864, is the largest operated by the Partnership. 29 of the stores are traditional department stores and 9 are 'John Lewis at home' stores.

John Lewis at home [edit]

In 2009, John Lewis announced a new format of 'John Lewis at home' stores, the first of which opened in Poole in October 2009. The 'at home' stores are located within pre-existing shopping regions, and focus on Electrical, Home and Technology products. The store in Poole opened on 22 October 2009 at the former Courts site at the Commerce Centre retail park in Branksome. Following the early success of the Poole "at home" store, five further 'at homes' opened in 2010/11 in areas outside of the catchment of the traditional John Lewis stores, including Croydon, Tunbridge Wells, Tamworth, Chester and Swindon. Further stores in Newbury and Chichester, West Sussex opened in Spring 2012, with Ipswich following in November 2012.[7]

Recent developments [edit]

In June 2004, John Lewis announced plans to open its first store in Northern Ireland at the Sprucefield Park development, the province's largest out of town shopping centre, located outside Lisburn and 10 miles (16 km) from Belfast. The application was approved in June 2005 and the opening of the new store was scheduled for 2008. This decision was disputed, and was taken to the High Court, where it was reversed.

In 2008, a controversy over the declaration of expenses by UK Members of Parliament revealed that Parliamentary authorities were using information from John Lewis - the 'John Lewis list' - as a guide to the maximum costs refundable to MPs when equipping London pieds à terre at public expense.

On 6 November 2008, it was announced that John Lewis would open their first department store outside the UK in Dublin, Ireland. Subject to planning permission, the shop will be built on O’Connell Street. The centre is being developed by Chartered Land and will be part of the largest retail centre in Ireland. The €1.2 billion development is due to open in 2013.[8]

Westfield Stratford City

The Cardiff store opened in September 2009 as part of the St David's Centre — Phase 2 development, and is the largest John Lewis department store in the UK outside of London. The Cardiff branch is also the Partnership's only department store in Wales.[9][10] Stratford opened in 2011 together with a new Waitrose supermarket. The new shops will anchor the Westfield Stratford City development alongside the Olympic Park in east London.

In February 2011, it was announced that John Lewis was appointed as the Official Department Store provider for the London 2012 Olympic Games. As part of the deal, John Lewis stores will become key retail outlets for official London 2012 merchandise. John Lewis was the 26th domestic sponsor to sign up to London 2012. [11]

Also in February 2011, John Lewis announced it is to open a 250,000-square-foot (23,000 m2) department store in Birmingham city centre in 2014. John Lewis will be the flagship store for the £100 million development and will be part of a new shopping centre built on the south side of a redeveloped Birmingham New Street railway station.

In November 2011, it was announced John Lewis has shelved plans for a new store in Preston, Lancashire as part of the Tithebarn Project which has now been drastically scaled down. The current economic climate was cited as a key factor in their decision.[12]

It was announced that John Lewis would be the anchor tenant of a new development scheme in Leeds. The Eastgate Quarters scheme was approved in July 2011[13] and is to be a new shopping and dining quarter in the city centre. John Lewis have been looking for a site in Leeds for a while and are now happy they will be filling a major regional gap.[14] Although the department store pulled out of its Preston plans, the company remains committed to Leeds.[15]

Visual identity [edit]

John Lewis graphic identity, 1990

The graphic identity, which has at its core the distinctive diagonal motif, was created in 1990 by John Lloyd and Jim Northover of the British design consultancy, Lloyd Northover. In 2000, it was given a minor refresh by London design consultancy Pentagram.[16]

Future developments [edit]

In July 2011, John Lewis announced that it would be opening 10 new stores under a new smaller format in city centre locations over the next 5 years. The new smaller format department stores will hold John Lewis's core lines of Home, Electrical and Fashions, all tailored to the local area. However, the full line will still be available through online terminals within the store, as well as the "click and collect" service already available within other branches. With the first branch opening in Exeter on 12 October 2012, Andrea O'Donnell, commercial director, said the move would help John Lewis double its turnover from £3bn ($4.89bn) to £6bn over the next 10 years [17]

John Lewis retain long-held plans to open a department store in Manchester city centre ever since the regeneration of the city centre following the 1996 Manchester bombing, but have not found a suitable site.[18] They have countered the lack of city centre store by opening two large stores in Cheadle in 2000 and the Trafford Centre in 2005.[19]

Current locations [edit]

Department stores [edit]

In addition to their Oxford Street flagship store in Central London, John Lewis also operates full-line department stores in:

Scotland [edit]

England [edit]

Wales [edit]

Flexible format department stores [edit]

John Lewis opened their first new concept 'flexible format' department store on 12 October 2012. This new format for stores of between 60,000 and 120,000 sq ft sits between the 'full-line' department store and 'at home' shops in terms of scale. These stores offer a wide range of John Lewis departments across the categories of Fashion, Home and Electricals & Home Technology. An edited assortment available on the shop floor is complemented by in-store terminals providing access to the full range available to order from the John Lewis website.

John Lewis At Home stores [edit]

Former department stores [edit]

Pratts, Streatham
  • John Barnes, Finchley Road, London - closed 1981, building now occupied by Waitrose
  • Blinkhorn & Son, Gloucester - sold 1953
  • Bon Marché, Brixton, London - closed 1975
  • Bon Marché, Tunbridge Wells - sold 1953
  • Buckleys, Harrogate - sold 1953
  • A H Bull, Reading - sold 1953
  • Caleys, Windsor - closed 2006
  • Holdrons, Peckham, London - sold 1948
  • Jones Brothers, Holloway Road, London - closed 1990, part of Jones Brothers site now occupied by Waitrose
  • Lance & Lance, Weston-Super-Mare - closed 1956
  • Pratts, Streatham, London - closed 1990
  • Quin & Axten, Brixton, London - sold 1949
  • Robert Sayle Peterborough (formerly Thomsons), Peterborough - closed 1956
  • Trewin Brothers, Watford - closed 1992 upon the opening of the Harlequin Shopping Centre (see above)
  • Vinalls, Eastbourne - sold 1953

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b "John Lewis Partnership - John Lewis Partnership plc Results for the year ended 28 January 2012" (in English). Retrieved 2012-03-07. 
  2. ^ Royal Warrant Directory - John Lewis[dead link]
  3. ^ "John Lewis awarded Royal Warrant". Johnlewispartnership.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-04-20. 
  4. ^ "Herbert Parkinson History". Herbertparkinson.com. Retrieved 2012-04-20. 
  5. ^ By Walsh, Fiona; 573 words. "Peter John revamp signs off Pentegram concept". Highbeam.com. Retrieved 2012-04-20. 
  6. ^ "Department Stores". John Lewis. Retrieved 29 September 2012. 
  7. ^ "John Lewis Exeter now open". Johnlewispartnership.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-18. 
  8. ^ "John Lewis Partnership website - Dublin store". Retrieved 2008-11-06. 
  9. ^ "John Lewis website - Cardiff store". Retrieved 2008-08-03. 
  10. ^ "Store wars as John Lewis opens". BBC News. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2010. 
  11. ^ [1][dead link]
  12. ^ [2][dead link]
  13. ^ "News & Events". Eastgateleeds.co.uk. 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2012-04-20. 
  14. ^ "Department Stores - New shops: Leeds". John Lewis. Retrieved 2012-04-20. 
  15. ^ Published on Saturday 5 November 2011 08:15 (2011-11-05). "Leeds: John Lewis in pledge over £675m Eastgate plan - Top Stories". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 2012-04-20. 
  16. ^ Mills, Lauren (29 October 2000). "John Lewis hires image maker for new look". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 November 2012. 
  17. ^ Felsted, Andrea (2011-07-22). "FT 'John Lewis to open 10 new stores'". Ft.com. Retrieved 2012-04-20. 
  18. ^ John Lewis http://www.johnlewis.com/Shops/DSTemplate.aspx?Id=17 |url= missing title (help). Retrieved 2012-09-03.  Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Linton, Deborah (27 April 2011). "John Lewis searching for site to open major store in Manchester". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2012-09-03. 
  20. ^ "Department Stores". John Lewis.com. John Lewis Partnership. Retrieved 24 August 2011. 

External links [edit]

Media related to John Lewis (department store) at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 51°29′49″N 0°08′40″W / 51.497°N 0.14434°W / 51.497; -0.14434

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