John Lewis has unveiled its plans for a “gradual” reopening beginning with two stores on June 15, with customer and staff responses to social distancing to be taken into account ahead of further openings during the summer.
The retailer said it would open two of its stores on June 15 – Poole in Hampshire and Kingston upon Thames – before opening a further 11 on June 18.
Over the bank holiday weekend, the prime minister said that all non-essential retailers could reopen stores from June 15, having originally outlined a June 1 date.
John Lewis said it would then take into account both its customer and staff responses to its “new ways of operating with respect to social distancing”, before opening further department stores.
The department store chain said it would be implementing a “raft of measures” it had used at partnership Waitrose stores, including introducing a ‘customer service host’ to manage the number of customers in store, reducing the number of entrances, installing protective checkout screens, and limiting the number of users on escalators and in lifts.
The retailer said only opening a quarter of its stores initially was part of a “steady, gradual approach with rigorous safety and social distancing measures” in place, and highlighted that the stores it had chosen to open were primarily picked “because of their accessibility by car”.
The retailer was forced to close its 50-store estate for the first time in its history when the country was plunged into lockdown on March 23. However, John Lewis noted its online business had experienced “a significant uplift in sales”.
Chair of the John Lewis Partnership Sharon White said: “The momentous events of the last few months have tested our resilience as a business, but our resourcefulness, innovation and the spirit of cooperation between partners has really shone through.
“It’s been heartwarming to see John Lewis partners stepping into different roles to support our Waitrose supermarkets and to keep Johnlewis.com running and I’m proud of everything our partners across both our brands have done to help us get to this point.
“Our shops reopening is a sign of hope as we begin to find our new normal. There’s an opportunity now for us to come back stronger as a business, and offer the safety and reassurance that customers will want.
“However, while we have experience of social distancing in our Waitrose shops, we will need to establish new ways of working in our department stores. We are taking this cautious approach to be able to learn as we go and to make sure that our shops are as safe as they can possibly be for our customers and partners.”
The 13 stores earmarked for reopening will have undertaken a “four-week reopening preparation programme” including stock counting and replenishment, preparing systems and deep cleaning.
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