Which John Lewis stores are closing? Everything we know so far
JOHN Lewis Partnership has today revealed a further 1,000 jobs across stores to simplify its management structure.
The retailer, which operates 331 Waitrose stores and 36 John Lewis shops across the UK, has begun consultations with staff over the proposals.
The job losses are in addition to previously announced cuts and store closures.
The retailer first warned that some of its 42 stores would not be reopening after lockdown following a £517million loss last year - the first loss in the group's history dating back to 1864.
In March, the partnership then announced the closure of eight John Lewis stores, which put 1,456 roles at risk.
No further stores are expected to close under the latest proposals.
Here, we explain which eight stores will close forever:
Which John Lewis stores will close?
John Lewis revealed that eight stores will remain closed after lockdown restrictions lift.
Four At Home stores will close, which are located in: Ashford, Basingstoke, Chester, and Tunbridge Wells.
Four of its department stores will close as well, which are located in: Aberdeen, Peterborough, Sheffield and York.
Which John Lewis will not reopen after lockdown?
JOHN Lewis has announced eight more shops will permanently close, these are located in:
At Home stores:
- Ashford
- Basingstoke
- Chester
- Tunbridge Wells
Department stores:
- Aberdeen
- Peterborough
- Sheffield
- York
This means nearly 1,500 jobs from its 80,000-strong workforce could be lost.
The remaining 34 John Lewis shops in England reopened from April 12 when lockdown restrictions lifted.
Meanwhile, its Glasgow store opened on April 26 and Edinburgh on May 14.
The announcement comes eight months after it closed eight stores in July last year, in a move that put 1,300 jobs at risk.
Two months later, John Lewis Partnership - which also owns posh supermarket Waitrose - also confirmed it was scrapping its annual staff bonus for the first time in 67 years.
The staff bonus began in 1920 and was originally paid out in the form of stocks and shares in the company.
In 1970, it was converted to the cash bonus staff get today.
John Lewis said it is "committed" to restarting bonuses as soon as profits reach £150million.
It comes as the partnership is targeting savings of £300million a year by 2022.
High street shops that have been hit by coronavirus
THE coronavirus crisis has been devastating for the already struggling UK high street.
Here’s a list of some of the shops that have had to shrink their number of stores, or close all their branches for good.
- Aldo - some stores shut
- Antler
- Brighthouse
- Burton
- Cath Kidston
- Debenhams
- Dorothy Perkins
- Miss Selfridge
- Monsoon Accessorize - some stores shut
- John Lewis - some stores shut
- Oasis
- Topshop and Topman
- Wallis
- Warehouse
- Quiz
Which John Lewis stores have already closed?
John Lewis has already closed eight stores in July last year.
Places that have shut include:
- Birmingham - department store
- Croydon - at home shop
- Heathrow - travel hub
- Newbury - at home shop
- St Pancras - travel hub
- Swindon - at home shop
- Tamworth - at home shop
- Watford - department store
It comes after the partnership confirmed the closure of four Waitrose stores last year.
This includes branches in Caldicot, Ipswich and Shrewsbury, while its Wolverhampton shop was sold to Tesco.
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Household names such as Topshop and Debenhams have disappeared from the UK high street during the crisis, resulting in thousands of job losses.
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Marks & Spencer was among the stores that slashed its head count in the pandemic, when it cut 7,000 shop floor roles last summer.
It has since announced the closure of a further 30 stores.