John Lewis and Waitrose have been rebranded, with both adding “& Partners” to their names to highlight their employee-owned business model and service culture.
The John Lewis Partnership, which owns both companies, unveiled the new branding at its stores on Oxford Street and at Westfield White City in west London. Similarly, the upmarket grocer will be known as Waitrose & Partners. The fascias of two of its shops in London already bear the new brand.
The John Lewis Partnership, which is owned by the 83,000 “partners” who work there, reported revenues of £10.2bn last year, £6.3bn from Waitrose and £3.8bn from John Lewis. The first John Lewis store opened in 1864, while the Waitrose name has been in use since 1908.
The Guardian reports that the department store chain is axing 270 jobs, stripping out back office jobs in IT, finance and store security from its 50 departments stores, just as it changes its name.
