John Lewis as you’ve never seen it before
After profit warnings, the high street stalwart is unveiling a dramatic new look. Claudia Croft braces herself as she gets a sneak peek
‘People tell us the strangest things, like they want to die here,” says Paula Nickolds, managing director of John Lewis. It may be an example of the affection some customers have for the store, but there are worse places to end your days.
On a sunny, late August morning, Nickolds walks across the vivid green Astroturf roof of the chain’s Oxford Street flagship store. A youthful looking 45, she’s dressed in a silk blouse and sleek crepe trousers (from the newly revamped John Lewis fashion collection) and with her hair pulled back into a Meghan Markle-style messy bun, she’s the image of modern, approachable business chic. Around her, staff are busily setting up the space for a series of sell-out sunset cinema nights (Footloose is playing on Wednesday). “It’s an oasis up here,” she sighs. The turmoil on the high street below seems far away, but in July, the group, which operates 51 John Lewis stores and 350 Waitrose shops, issued a profit warning of “close to zero”, with full-year profits to January 2019 expected to be substantially lower than last year.
The trading figures for John Lewis were indicative of a high street experiencing a kind of shopmageddon. As a result of higher costs and a shift to buying online, British bricks and mortar retail is in crisis. Profits at many chains are in freefall (in March, John Lewis reported a 77per cent drop), footfall is down and mass closures of other household names and brands are on the horizon.
Under a desperate rescue plan by its new owner Mike Ashley, House of Fraser is preparing to close 31 of its 59 branches, New Look is set to close as many as 60 of its 600 UK stores as it continues to battle massive debts, and Marks and Spencer has earmarked a total of 100 shops for closure by 2022.
It signals a radical new look for our high streets and what that may be is still being hotly debated. One thing for sure is that change is coming and, Nickolds says, “now is not the time to be faint-hearted”.
John Lewis occupies a hallowed place in the nation’s consciousness. Births, marriages and new kitchens; for decades, middle England’s landmark life moments have been punctuated by a pilgrimage to its stores. With its dependable “Never Knowingly Undersold” motto and unique partnership business model (the department store is owned by its 27,000 employees), the 150-yearold institution is woven into the fabric of our lives. But the store is not immune to the perils of a shifting shopping landscape.
“Undoubtedly it is a turbulent time in retail,” says Nickolds. The way we shop is changing forever. John Lewis now does 40per cent of its business through its website – a much higher proportion than its high-street competitors, but unlike them, John Lewis is not planning store closures. Instead, Nickolds is plotting something much bolder and some could say, counter-intuitive. Their attention, instead, will focus on physical stores and the hugely important role they can still play in our shopping lives.
On Tuesday, John Lewis will adopt a new name and unveil a vibrant new look at 15 stores. They are launching a new service-based, experiential approach which, over the next five years, will roll out to its entire shop portfolio. The department stores will become John Lewis & Partners and the supermarket business will be called Waitrose & Partners, to emphasise the importance of its employeeowned business structure.
An emotive television ad will be broadcast on Monday night to get the point across, and the names of all its employees will be projected on to the wall of its Oxford Street branch.
Manifestos will be erected in the doorways of stores “explaining why you will get a different service from the owners you meet in the shop”, says Nickolds. “We’re connecting back to what John Lewis has always been about: people,” she says.
Inside the store, the changes will be instantly noticeable. The familiar green John Lewis livery and logo will be no more, replaced by sleek monochrome stripes, which work better on the shop’s apps. Alongside the new look, an ambitious, highly personalised service culture, which aims to give every customer the VIP treatment, will be introduced – first in the 15 stores, but then across the whole estate. Staff on the new “Welcome” desks in every store will
‘We’re connecting back to what John Lewis has always been about: people’
not just be able to tell you which floor the haberdashery is on, but curate your whole experience. They will be there to book tables in the restaurants for you, arrange a personal shopping appointment, tech advice or a beauty treatment, and even find the best toaster for you.
In a makeover estimated to have cost in the region of £10 million, John Lewis has fully embraced the idea of retail theatre. In the cook shop, they’ve built demonstration kitchens and on the tech, interiors and fashion floors, space has been created for staff to give three trend presentations a day.
Nickolds drafted in the National Theatre to train employees in public speaking and presentation, with the aim of turning regular shop-floor workers into a new generation of slick communicators. “It’s not a fulfilment job, it’s an ambassadorial job,” she says.
The department store has also invested heavily in personal shopping, unveiling new “style studios” with private shopping rooms where customers can “enjoy a glass of bubbly” and shop for anything from a new season’s wardrobe to the perfect pair of jeans.
“That level of service has been the preserve of the fabulously wealthy. It’s been very rarefied and we are trying to make it accessible and meaningful, something that talks to the next frontier. How do we get a sense of self back in a world where we are bombarded with everything?” says Nickolds.
The big question, of course, is how this highly personal, ultra-attentive new approach will go down with traditionally reserved, uptight British shoppers. “We’ve deliberately made this very accessible – the people are charming, there’s nothing about this that is off-putting or makes you feel self-conscious or awkward,” says Nickolds, who is confident we Brits are ready. “We’re used to much more personalisation in our digital lives. We’re used to people knowing more about us.”
The results of a three-month trial at the Westfield White City branch suggest her instincts are right. The personal shopping suites are fully booked, with a high demand for denim and swimwear consultations. Group bookings are also popular and there’s strong uptake from male customers.
Crucially, it has boosted the bottom line, with the six personal shoppers on the fashion floor generating 20 per cent of the sales and customers spending up to 30 per cent more. Multiply that across the John Lewis estate and you can see why Nickolds is feeling positive.
Two years after she became MD, her vision of the future of shopping is becoming a reality. Convenience isn’t everything (“It doesn’t satisfy the soul”). Instead she believes that “service has to be the future of retail because why have a physical shop unless you can get something additional from that experience?”
A John Lewis lifer, Nickolds began her career as a management trainee at the Oxford Street shop 24 years ago and leads the ultimate John Lewis life. Cut her and she bleeds modern middle England. This summer she’s spent her staycation on the south coast cooking on a Webber charcoal barbecue, and she relaxes after a long day at the office on a Fifties-style Barbican sofa bought from the store.
Her favourite ready meal from Waitrose? “Chicken and asparagus risotto with a glass of Picpoul or something like that.” She’s not formal or stuffy – most days she wears a silk blouse and J Brand jeans to the office and describes her personal taste as “stylish rather than fashionable”.
Such down-to-earth but not dowdy values have taken her to the top of the organisation. Now she is banking on the future of its stores as being an extension of the community, offering “everyday moments of delight” – a temple of discovery giving customers “things they didn’t know we did or hadn’t dreamt of John Lewis providing for them”, with staff acting as knowledgeable, trustworthy ambassadors.
“We all want convenience and things made easy, but we also want to luxuriate and dwell in the things we find inspirational,” Nickolds adds.
Next year she will be eligible for the six-month sabbatical given to staff who notch up a quarter of a century at the store – but she’s not planning to take it up. “It’s too exciting here,” she says. “We are reinventing ourselves for what we feel the future of retail will be.”
‘Why have a physical shop unless it gives you something more?’