John Lewis opens first full line flexible department store
John Lewis has opened the first of its new full line flexible format department stores in Exeter today.
The new store will sell the full John Lewis assortment in a format which sits between a John Lewis ‘at home’ and a traditional John Lewis department store in terms of size. The branch has created around 300 new jobs for local people.
John Lewis has identified at least ten locations across the UK which could support the new bespoke department stores and has confirmed the opening of shops in York in 2013 and Chelmsford in 2014.
Andy Street, managing director, John Lewis said: “Today marks an important milestone in our growth strategy and we are thrilled to be expanding our offer to customers in the South West. This is the first of our full line flexible format department stores, a concept which means we can now consider opening shops in areas that were not always thought feasible for a traditional John Lewis department store building. We hope customers will be as delighted with the shopping experience that this new shop offers as we are.”
The new store will be used to test a range of interactive technologies over the next few months. Specially designed interactive information screens will take customers through a number of questions to help find the best product to match their needs. In addition, digital store guides have been introduced to help customers navigate the shop and larger screens fitted on walls throughout the shop will provide information on products available not only in the Exeter store but from the entire John Lewis assortment.
Tim Harrison, head of format development, John Lewis added: “We understand that customers now shop in many different ways. We have chosen our Exeter shop to test a range of new concepts and trial a selection of interactive technologies for the very first time. Over the coming months we will be looking at customer feedback and exploring how these initiatives can be enhanced and added to, not only for our shoppers in Exeter, but across the country in other John Lewis shops.”
