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New John Lewis Store Set to Promote Home Décor
Listed under: News
Published: Monday, June 01, 2009
The home décor sector will receive a massive boost later this year when retail giant John Lewis launches its first homeware store in Poole this autumn.
The company – which will be investing £6 million in the scheme – hopes to open a further 30 shops across the UK over the next few years. The new format will be much smaller than the retailer's other stores and is expected to create up to 100 jobs. As well as featuring a range of electrical home accessories, it will stock an extensive selection of sewing machines and high quality haberdashery materials.
Commenting on the new opening, Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis, says, “This is a significant departure for our business. 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.”
Retail director Gareth Thomas, agrees the initiative is a big step forward, adding, "The new format has been based on a enormous amount of research which 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. We know our competitors have a much higher level of coverage in the UK 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."
Karen Matthew, project manager of format development, adds, "Haberdashery is an important element of the John Lewis offer and we will be including products such as sewing machines in the At Home branches."
The first store is due to be located in the Poole Commerce Centre and will trade under the name John Lewis at Home.
The company – which will be investing £6 million in the scheme – hopes to open a further 30 shops across the UK over the next few years. The new format will be much smaller than the retailer's other stores and is expected to create up to 100 jobs. As well as featuring a range of electrical home accessories, it will stock an extensive selection of sewing machines and high quality haberdashery materials.
Commenting on the new opening, Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis, says, “This is a significant departure for our business. 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.”
Retail director Gareth Thomas, agrees the initiative is a big step forward, adding, "The new format has been based on a enormous amount of research which 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. We know our competitors have a much higher level of coverage in the UK 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."
Karen Matthew, project manager of format development, adds, "Haberdashery is an important element of the John Lewis offer and we will be including products such as sewing machines in the At Home branches."
The first store is due to be located in the Poole Commerce Centre and will trade under the name John Lewis at Home.
