John Lewis unveils plans to reopen department stores from June 15

John Lewis has unveiled plans to reopen from the middle of next month, as the coronavirus lockdown eases. 

The department store has said it will open the doors of two branches on Monday, June 15 with new social distancing measures put in place to protect shoppers and staff. Poole and Kingston will be the first sites to allow customers in.

The retailer is then hoping to reopen a further 11 stores three days later, as part of a phased reopening plan. It is the latest of a series of companies to announce cautious reopening plans, with similar announcements from Halfords and Nando’s.

It comes two days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave non-essential retailers, such as fashion stores, the green light to open to the public on June 15.

The store said it plans to reopen more stores ‘throughout the summer’ depending on how customers and staff respond to the first openings.

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On June 18, Bluewater, Cambridge, Cheadle, Cheltenham, High Wycombe, Horsham, Ipswich, Norwich, Nottingham, Solihull and Welwyn will also reopen.

But shoppers will be faced with a different shopping experience to before the lockdown, with the retailer introducing a raft of health and safety measures.

It said fitting rooms and in-store cafes will be shut to customers until further notice, while it will also reduce the availability of customer services, such as beauty services.

John Lewis said it will reduce the number of entrances and cap the number of shoppers in its stories as part of the measures.

It said it will also have ‘customer service hosts’ who will be assigned to welcome customers, answer questions and manage queues in busy areas of shops.

The group added that branches selected to reopen have been chosen primarily because of their accessibility by car and it will use social distancing practices already in place in its sister Waitrose stores.

John Lewis temporarily closed its 50 department stores on March 23 for the first time in its 155-year history.

Sources said last month that the company started discussions on which department stores should keep their doors closed permanently and that it is ‘highly unlikely’ that all 50 stores would reopen.

In April, John Lewis said online sales have increased since the lockdown but warned annual sales could plunge by 35% in a worst-case scenario as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Partner & Chairman Sharon White said: ‘Our shops reopening is a sign of hope as we begin to find our new normal.

‘While we have experience of social distancing in our Waitrose shops, we will need to establish new ways of working in our department stores.

‘We are taking this cautious approach to be able to learn as we go and to make sure that our shops are as safe as they can possibly be for our customers and Partners.’

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