John Lewis to open a further 10 shops

Department store retailer John Lewis has announced that it will open a further 10 shops including locations in Scotland and Wales in July.

On Monday, July 13, John Lewis shops in Basingstoke, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Chester, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Stratford and the Trafford Centre will reopen.

While the Oxford Street store in London will follow later that week on Thursday, July 16, as they have needed extra time due to the “size and scale of the shop,” explained John Lewis in a statement.

This will take the total number of John Lewis shops that have so far reopened following the easing of the lockdown to 32, with plans for further shops to reopen later in the summer.

Bérangère Michel, executive director for customer service at the John Lewis Partnership said: “I am really pleased to announce more shop openings in the next couple of weeks, and in particular our first to reopen in Wales and Scotland.

“We continue to stick to our safe, not fast approach. We are learning as we go and tweaking our approach to give our customers and Partners the best possible experience.

“Feedback from customers is that they really enjoy being able to test and try out products such as tablets, mattresses and shoes, all in a safe environment, as well as asking our expert Partners for advice.”

Key social distancing measures in John Lewis shops include customer service hosts assigned 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, there will be a reduction in the number of shop entrances and exits, as well as caps on the number of customers entering stores.

Other measures include prominent social distancing signage, protective screens at checkouts and areas of the shop where social distancing can’t be achieved between customers and staff such as ‘Welcome desks’, hand sanitiser for customers to use at all entrances and throughout shops, rigorous and frequent cleaning, as well as a new contactless payment limit of 45 pounds.

In addition, there will also be limiting additional customer services, for example, close-contact beauty services will not be offered and fitting rooms will remain closed until further notice.

Image: courtesy of John Lewis