Aberdeen store to shut as John Lewis plans new closures
John Lewis is to close its Aberdeen department store, dealing a major blow to the city’s retail sector and its wider economy.
The large site is one of three department stores that the partnership runs in Scotland. Ithas265staff,knownas“partners”, working there. The other two, in Edinburgh and Glasgow, will reopen over the coming weeks following the easing of lockdown restrictions.
John Lewis Partnership said it would not reopen eight of its 42 John Lewis shops after lockdown, as it “rebalances its store estate to reflect how customers want to shop”. It follows a warning from the retail giant earlier this month, and eight store closures last year.
The eight shops identified for closure are four “At Home” shops, in Ashford, Basingstoke, Chester and Tunbridge Wells, and four department stores in Aberdeen, Peterborough, Sheffield and York.
The employee-owned retailer said it would enter into consultation with the 1,465 affected partners about its latest proposals.
It added: “In areas where we propose not to reopen stores, we will look at the right combination of options for that location to ensure we remain convenient for our customers, so they can continue to access John Lewis products and services.”
Chairwoman Sharon White said: “Today’s announcement is incredibly sad news for our affected partners, for our customers and for the communities we’ve served over many years. The high street is going through its biggest change for agenerationandwearechanging with it. Customers will still be able to get the trusted service that we are known for.”
Pippa Wicks, executive director for John Lewis, said: “Closing stores is the toughest thing we do as a partnership because we all own our business.
“Every effort will be made to find new roles for partners and for us to continue to serve our customers by providing access to John Lewis in different ways.
“Alongside a growing online business and the expansion of next day click and collect, we will invest in our in-store services and experiences, as well as new, smaller neighbourhood formats and the introduction of John Lewis ranges in more Waitrose shops.”
The partnership said the Glasgow department store would reopen from 26 April, with the Edinburgh reopening not taking place until 14 May.
Earlierthismonthitemerged that the group had swung to a £517 million annual loss after the pandemic hit trade at the department store business.
It also scrapped its staff bonus for the first time since 1953, as previously reported, after the coronavirus crisis and “substantial” exceptional costs sent the company plunging to the hefty loss for the year to 30 January against profits of £146m the previous year.
Kevin Mountford, co-founder of savings provider Raisin UK, said: “Consumer habits have changed, and what we are seeing is ultimately a move from physical shopping to an online one with a click of a button.
“The pandemic has taught us, as consumers, that convenience is massively important, and with certain restrictions allowing us not to go into non-essential retail shops, it’s only adapted us into the online world.
“Where we have gotten used to this, it might be hard to switch back.”