John Lewis and Waitrose are set to open a “consumer-centric” concept
store at its Southampton department store on November 19, which will
showcase services and experiences across fashion, beauty, cookery, gadgets,
gardening, and interiors.
The “experience playgrounds” are part of John Lewis Partnership’s goal
to explore the future role of the shop in customers lives while also
bringing John Lewis and Waitrose closer together, by highlighting their
retail “dream team” of experts including interior designers, chefs and wine
connoisseurs, gardeners, gadget specialists, personal stylists and make-up
artists.
Peter Cross, customer experience director at John Lewis and Partners,
said in a statement: “Our goal is to offer customers unrivalled access to
expertise and impartial advice in as many areas of their lives as we
possibly can in a way that is uplifting and inspiring.
“We know that shopping for a new gadget or beauty product can be a
daunting experience, with so much choice on offer. We want to help navigate
customers through that.”
Highlights include allowing customers to learn to bake bread in the
first-ever Waitrose and Partners Cookery School to open in a John Lewis and
Partners shop, pop-up workshops ranging from barista and photography
courses to wreath-making and modern calligraphy, as well as specialists
offering advice to help customers overhaul their wardrobes in the style
studio, change-up their beauty regimes, moodboard for a home refurbishment
and learn how to set up their new devices in the gadget hub, The Download.
John Lewis and Waitrose team up to launch new “consumer-centric”
concept
Over the Christmas period, customers will also be able to learn to make
festive treats such as gingerbread and yule logs, as well as receive advice
on how to style a Christmas tree or find the perfect party outfit.
There will be services and experiences on every floor of John Lewis
Southampton, explained the retailer, with the team of impartial expert
Partners on-hand to “help shoppers make the right choice for them”. If
successful, the “experience playgrounds” model could be rolled out across
the country, said the retailer.
In addition, there will be a new farm shop and roof garden from the
Partnership’s Leckford Estate, in Hampshire, just 25 miles from the
Southampton shop, which is the only farm owned by a UK food retailer and
has a professional in-house horticultural team as part of its specialist
plant nursery. The gardeners have designed a rooftop garden filled with
planted apple trees, providing a taste of rural living, alongside the farm
shop and cafe.
Cross added: “Our new concept shop is an example of how we’re
reinventing the department store of the future to make us stand out from
the competition.”
Shoppers can book time with experts and buy gift experience packages for
the range of free and paid-for events at the Southampton Experience Desk in
store.
The new concept comes as John Lewis and Waitrose move towards operating
as a single business. In October, the two retailers announced that they
would no longer operate as two separate business units from February 3,
2020, which it notes is expected to save the retail group around 100
million pounds over time. The move it adds will “enable a faster delivery
of better products and services” for its customers, as both brands will be
managed by a single executive team responsible for the Partnership’s
business strategy and performance.
Image: courtesy of John Lewis Partnership
