John Lewis confirms plans to reopen shops on April 12

Following the government’s latest announcement on the easing of lockdown, John Lewis has confirmed that it will reopen its shops in England and Wales on April 12.

The department store said in a statement that after more than three months of its retail outlets being shut due to the national lockdown that it was looking forward to once again welcoming customers.

John Lewis also announced “key services” including opening its changing rooms to help customers find the right fit, restarting its children’s shoe fitting, in-person nursery appointments, as well as offering home design advice, personal styling appointments and technology support.

The retailer said ‘Customer Service Hosts’ will be provided throughout its shops to welcome customers into the store and answer any questions while managing customer numbers, queues both at entrances and busy areas of the shop.

In addition, John Lewis is raising the contactless payment limit in all shops from 30 to 45 pounds to help customers minimise the need for contact while shopping. The limit will be further increased to 100 pounds by the end of the year.

While other safety measures include protective screens at till points and areas of the shop where social distancing cannot be achieved between customers and Partners such as ‘Welcome desks’ and safe and simple returns processes including new drop boxes and quarantining returned stock for 48 hours.

John Lewis to offer key services including children’s shoe fitting for April reopening

John Lewis will also allow customers to recycle their beauty product packaging through its Beautycycle service. While next day Click and Collect services will also resume in John Lewis shops, in addition to pick-up locations in Waitrose, Co-op and Booths, taking the total number of collect locations to over 900.

Pippa Wicks, partner and executive director at John Lewis, said in a statement: “We are delighted to be welcoming our much-missed customers into our shops once more. We’re looking forward to reuniting customers with the joy of physical shopping, along with the excitement of our stores whilst also introducing our customers to stylish new products at prices they won’t expect.

“We’re also excited to be opening up much-needed services and helping customers choose those items that are harder to buy online - from the perfect mattress, to road testing the right pram or finding the right pair of jeans. We want to make sure the shopping experience is as fun and inspiring as it’s ever been, while also ensuring that our customers and Partners feel safe.”

John Lewis teaming up with Vinterior to sell vintage furniture

The department store is also launching a vintage furniture trial in its Kingston store in collaboration with Vinterior, the online vintage and antique market place, in response to growing customer desire to buy products that have the longest possible life.

Customers will be able to choose from a selection of mid-century vintage furniture, including dining tables, coffee tables, sideboards, drinks trolleys and occasional chairs. These one-off vintage pieces have been lovingly restored to the highest standards.

Images: courtesy of John Lewis