John Lewis has a plan for reopening its Sheffield store as restrictions on more shops are about to be lifted

The retailer closed all 50 of its branches, including its outlet in Barker’s Pool, in March as the Covid-19 crisis worsened.

Now the Government says ‘non-essential' shops can reopen from June 15 – and John Lewis is planning for a phased comeback across the country, following lessons on social distancing it has learned from operating the partnership’s Waitrose supermarkets during the pandemic.

Last month it emerged that talks had begun on the permanent closure of some department stores once lockdown ends. Sources close to the employee-owned retailer said it was ‘highly unlikely’ that all of its sites would return as the company faced financial challenges.

However, according to reports, John Lewis has created individual reopening plans for all 50 department stores which would be carried out in a ‘minimum of three’ stages, initially prioritising shops with large car parks so customers and staff can avoid public transport.

The partnership declined to explicitly confirm to The Star that Sheffield’s store would trade again.

But a spokeswoman for the company said its plans included:

- The introduction of a ‘customer service host’ assigned to welcome customers into the store and answer any questions while managing customer numbers within safe limits, manage queues at entrances and busy areas of the shop and explain to customers changes they will notice

- A reduced number of entrances

- Caps on the number of customers entering stores

- Prominent social distancing signs

- Protective screens at checkouts and areas of the shop where two-metre social distancing cannot be achieved between customers and staff

- Control procedures for escalators and lifts limiting the number of users

- Rigorous and frequent cleaning

- Provision of hand sanitiser for customers at all entrances

- Social distancing in back-of-house areas

- A new contactless payment limit of £45

- Reduced availability of customer services – for example, close-contact beauty services will not be offered and customer cafes and fitting rooms will remain closed until further notice

- A ‘safe’ returns process – returned items will be kept apart from other stock for 72 hours.

“We have been preparing to reopen our John Lewis stores, informed by what we have learned from the social distancing measures the partnership has taken in Waitrose,” the spokeswoman said.

“Our plan sees us open our shops on a phased basis, to enable us to test the changes we are introducing and ensure the best and safest experience. The safety of our customers and partners will govern everything we do and we are prepared to readjust our plan and make changes as we go to make sure we get it absolutely right and continue adhering to evolving Government guidelines.”

The Sheffield department store has a long and important history. It has operated in Barker’s Pool since 1963 and – up until 2002 – traded in Sheffield as Cole Brothers, which originally started on Fargate in 1847.

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