John Lewis has announced plans to reopen a further 10 shops, including stores in Scotland and Wales. On Monday 13 July, John Lewis shops in Basingstoke, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Chester, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Stratford and also the Trafford Centre, will reopen.
The Oxford Street store will reopen on Thursday 16 July to allow additional preparation time due to its size and scale. This will take the total number of shops reopened so far following the easing of the lockdown to 32. Plans are for further shops to reopen later in the summer.
Commenting is Bérangère Michel, executive director for customer service at the John Lewis Partnership. “I am really pleased to announce more shop openings in the next couple of weeks; in particular our first to reopen in Wales and Scotland.
“We continue to stick to our safe, not fast approach. We are learning as we go and tweaking our approach to give our customers and Partners the best possible experience.
“Feedback from customers is that they really enjoy being able to test and try out products such as tablets, mattresses and shoes, all in a safe environment, as well as asking our expert Partners for advice.”
Key social distancing measures in John Lewis shops include:
- Customer Service Hosts assigned to welcome customers into the store and answer any questions while managing customer numbers and queues both at entrances and busy areas of the shop
- Reduction in the number of shop entrances and exits
- Caps on the number of customers entering stores
- Prominent social distancing signage
- Protective screens at checkouts and areas of the shop where social distancing cannot be achieved between customers and Partners, such as welcome desks
- Procedures for escalators and lifts limiting the number of users
- Rigorous and frequent cleaning
- Provision of hand sanitiser for customers to use at all entrances and throughout shops
- Social distancing in back of house areas
- New contactless payment limit of £45
- Limiting additional customer services. For example, close-contact beauty services will not be offered. Fitting rooms are also unavailable until further notice. Some third-party catering outlets will be open. However, John Lewis will open its own Place to Eat and cafes at a later date. Customers can still receive the usual support and advice at the experience, customer support and welcome desks.
- Safe and simple returns process including new drop boxes and quarantining returned stock for 48hrs
