Prosecco and bikini waxes in, haberdashery out, reveals the store’s new woman boss
ONCE upon a time, a trip to John Lewis meant a twirl in their hat department or a rummage in their buttons and ribbons.
But soon you could be popping in to the department store for a bikini wax and a glass of fizz instead – as the company is planning to downgrade traditional offerings such as haberdashery and millinery in favour of trendy prosecco bars and beauty treatments.
The details emerged in an interview given by Paula Nickolds, 43, shortly before she became the first woman to run the 152-year-old retailer.
The changes are particularly ironic as Miss Nickolds’s own career began in the store’s haberdashery department.
The company also wants to make a push into selling holidays, as the new leadership team moves to redefine the department store as a place to buy experiences.
John Lewis’s new boss, now the most senior woman in British retail, revealed that the high street favourite is undergoing its most radical makeover in decades.
‘We’re modernising to reflect society,’ she said.
‘Consumers see retail as a leisure day out. We want to provide that. I wouldn’t say bikini waxes are the most important thing we’re doing but consumers do want more emotion, engagement, fun and imagination. We’re dialling that up.’
The new services offered by John Lewis, some of which are already available in a brand new store in Leeds, are designed to reverse a recent slump caused by the threat from online stores such as Amazon.
Meanwhile, bosses at sister chain Waitrose have revealed plans to open wine bars in the supermarkets in an effort to turn a visit into an event rather than a chore.
Sales in John Lewis’s 48 stores fell in 2015 for the first time since the financial crisis and underlying profits across the partnership, which includes Waitrose, were down 15 per cent in the first half of this year.
Blaming the poor performance on price pressure from budget internet rivals and ‘overcapacity in the middle market’, Miss Nickolds claimed John Lewis is effectively ‘the only real department store left in the UK’.
She added: ‘We’re selling homewares, electricals, beauty, fashion – nobody else really does that any more.’
She denied that department stores are dying at a time when people may browse in the high street but then go home to make a purchase online.
‘They said the same when I joined the firm 22 years ago. Human beings want relationships with brands – an emotional connection,’ she said.
‘I love department stores. There is something captivating about a place that you can go and dwell, that, as you walk through the doors, you breathe a sigh of relief.’
She also defended John Lewis’s Never Knowingly Undersold pricematching guarantee, dismissing criticism that it no longer applies because the company does not match with online firms.
‘If you’re going to have beautiful shops and ‘high-touch personal service’, you just cannot compete with a marketplace provider [such as Amazon],’ she said.
She insists the slogan will stay and ‘reflects what we do... We’re spending millions of pounds being the best price on the high street.’
Born in Hertfordshire, her father, Clive Nickolds, was a senior director at Marks & Spencer who once led its international operations, and as a child she would accompany him around the retailer’s stores on a Saturday.
She went on to follow in his footsteps, starting as a graduate trainee in the haberdashery department at John Lewis’s flagship Oxford Street store in 1994.
She then held buying roles in clothing and furniture before taking her first senior position as head of product development in 2006.
During the economic downturn, between 2009 and 2013, she led the homewares buying teams.
Success there led to a promotion to overall buying and brand director, where Miss Nickolds had responsibility for the all-important Christmas ad, before becoming commercial director last year.
Christmas is crucial to John Lewis, and Miss Nickolds, who replaced outgoing boss Andy Street last month, will have approved the store’s 2016 Christmas campaign, which will be revealed later this week.
‘Modernising to reflect society’