The UK department store chain John Lewis has said that eight of its shops will not reopen from lockdown putting 1,300 jobs at risk
The employee-owned business has said that the store closures come following the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated the shift from in-store shopping to online orders.
The shops to close are: two full-size department stores in Birmingham and Watford; four At Home shops in Croydon, Newbury, Swindon and Tamworth; and two travel hub shops at Heathrow and St Pancras.
In a trading update in April, it said it had seen a strong rise in online demand but not enough to make up for store closures, while the balance of purchases, which has been described as “more Scrabble and fewer sofas”, and tended not to favour big-ticket items.
Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, Sharon White, said:
“Closing a shop is always incredibly difficult and today’s announcement will come as very sad news to customers and partners.”
“However, we believe closures are necessary to help us secure the sustainability of the Partnership – and continue to meet the needs of our customers however and wherever they want to shop.”
“Redundancies are always an absolute last resort and we will do everything we can to keep as many partners as possible within our business.”
This comes after the chief executive of Hillingdon hospital in West London, which has now closed its A&E unit following an outbreak of COVID-19, has blamed its staff for not wearing masks at work.
Former John Lewis boss Andy Street – now West Midlands mayor – said the announcement of the Birmingham store closure was “incredibly disappointing” and “risks being a dreadful mistake”.
The job cuts announcement is the latest in a slew of such decisions affecting thousands of workers across swathes of the economy from BP and Airbus to Pret A Manger and Royal Mail.
It comes a day after chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a “plan for jobs” to help revive Britain’s battered economy and a month after he used an interview at a John Lewis department store to encourage shoppers to return to the high street after the lockdown.
This comes after Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, is set to announce a £2 billion “kickstart scheme” later to help create more jobs for young people in the UK.
John Lewis said that prior to the pandemic, the eight shops now facing closure had already been “financially challenged”.
It added: “The pandemic has accelerated the switch from shopping in-store to online.”
“Before the virus struck, 40% of John Lewis sales were online. This could now be closer to 60-70% of total sales this year and next.”
The announcement came as John Lewis said a further nine shops – in Aberdeen, Ashford, Brent Cross, Chichester, Oxford, Peterborough, Reading, Sheffield and London’s White City Westfield – would reopen from lockdown on 30 July.
It said its Leicester store would also reopen when the local lockdown for the city is lifted, taking the total number of reopened John Lewis shops to 42. The Swindon outlet will also reopen on 30 July.
