Will John Lewis in Sheffield ever reopen – as retailer is ‘highly unlikely’ to keep all its stores after lockdown
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Sources close to the employee-owned retailer said it was ‘highly unlikely’ that all 50 sites would reopen as the company battles for its future, according to PA Media.
Dame Sharon White, the new chairman of the John Lewis Partnership and her team are set to address analysts in the City today, updating them on recent performance.
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Hide AdIts 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.
The city was to get a brand new store as part of the Sevenstone scheme that stalled during the last recession. When progress slowed the firm decided to stay put and the project’s successor, Heart of the City II, is being built around its premises.
JLP also includes Waitrose, which has a supermarket on Ecclesall Road and has fared better during the lockdown due to remaining open.
However, with a major ramp-up of online operations, discussions are under way on whether it will be financially viable to reopen department stores. Last year the partnership closed 12 Waitrose supermarkets.
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Hide AdRetail analyst Richard Hyman said: "The reality is the retail world we are all moving into means every retailer needs fewer stores than it did before, including John Lewis, and not addressing this problem puts the rest of the business in jeopardy."
Shortly after arriving at JLP earlier this year, Dame Sharon already warned of challenges to come, and that stores were unlikely to remain open without financial improvements.
JLP said in a statement: "We keep our estate under continuous review in order to ensure we have the right amounts of shops to best serve our customers and remain commercially viable.
"It is too early to make a decision but, as always, any decision that is made is done with securing the long-term financial sustainability of the partnership and is always communicated to our partners first."