John Lewis at the centre of retail revival
£35m gamble to get shoppers off their sofas
AQUEUE of shoppers is snaking towards the escalator on the concourse i nside Birmingham’s redeveloped New Street station. They are waiting in line to witness the opening day of Grand Central – a complex of 66 new shops and restaurants bathed in natural light in a modern steel and glass atrium.
A key part of the redevelopment of the Midlands city, Grand Central is also home to John Lewis’s 45th department store, one of its largest outlets. The new store has been built at a time when other retailers have been scaling back their space due to fierce online competition. Tesco has shelved new large-store formats, Kingfisher has been selling off its B&Qs, and Debenhams has been handing over space to concessions such as Sports Direct.
But John Lewis managing director Andy Street is convinced that swimming against the tide will not be an expensive mistake. He claims the retailer takes more money on the internet in areas where it also has a physical store for shoppers to browse – and he points out that John Lewis’s 45 stores is a tiny number compared with its competition.
‘Customers will research items online, come and take a look in store and buy it there. Or they will order at home and have it either delivered or they will click and collect it. They expect to have all those options. The physical stores are an important part of that.’
The Birmingham shop, which is spread over four floors, is the template for future outlets, with a dedicated click and collect area, and parking.
Retailers are finding they have to work harder to give customers a reason to drag themselves off the sofa and browse the shelves when they can buy items at the click of a button from Amazon. The emphasis is on bringing a bit of theatre, and more services, to the High Street – you can’t get your nails and hair done online.
John Lewis’s Birmingham store has a full spa with six treatment rooms, a community space for local people and a travel agent. There’s a restaurant with different styles of food, and in the kitchen department a Fiat 500 car painted in the livery of the De’Longhi coffee brand.
Street has spent £35m on the 250,000 sq f t store, creating 650 new jobs.
He has stocked l ocally made items ranging from silverware made in the city’s j ewellery quarter, to Denby pottery.
Paula Nickolds ( pictured right), buying and brand director, says: ‘ The future of shops lies with services and experiences. It’s about engaging with other humans and offering an alternative to sitting at home buying online.’
Shopping is also about convenience, and the new John Lewis, along with the other retail chains, will benefit from being above the busiest railway station in the UK outside London.
More than 170,000 passengers pass through New Street station every day, and the £600m development, which is the latest part of the city’s regeneration, is seen as a model for the future of retail. High streets have been in decline for years with councils failing either to breathe new life into them or invest in free parking to encourage customers to make the journey into town. The Grand Central retail development cost £150m and involved Birmingham City Council, Network Rail, and property groups Mace and DTZ.
Street, who is alsochair man of the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, has been instrumental in transforming the image of the UK’s second city. ‘New Street station was always an emblem for something that was tired,’ he said. ‘ Birmingham’s r egeneration started in the 1990s but there was a lull until 2003 when the Bullring [shopping centre] opened. This and Grand Central are repositioning Birmingham as a destination.’
Retail alone can’t drive regeneration – it has to be part of an overall experience that includes culture, catering and leisure. There are five Michelin- starred restaurants in the city now.
A spokesman for fashion retailer Steel And Jelly said: ‘As well as welcoming those local to the region, we’ll be able to reach new customers from all over the country who will be travelling through the new station.’
Jonathan Cheetham, centre manager for Grand Central, said: ‘ It’s a proud day... marking another chapter in the ongoing renaissance of our great city.’
But as one shopper pointed out, the new station looks great but doesn’t solve capacity problems because New Street only has two rail lines in and two out. That’s an issue beyond the scope of Andy Street, until he expands John Lewis into transport.