John Lewis switches focus with Poole opening

  John Lewis will open a 45,000 sq ft shop at Land Securities’ Poole Commerce Centre near Poole, Dorset, in October as part of a new format focused exclusively on the home sector.   The department store retailer will be investing £6m in the new initiative, which will sell home and electrical and home technology.   It will also comprise an espresso bar and customer collection.   John Lewis plans to expand the format to 30 stores, ranging in size from 40,000 sq ft to 50,000 sq ft, on both retail parks and in-town locations across the UK and Ireland.   Andy Street, managing director at John Lewis, said: “This is a significant departure for our business. Poole will be our first new format shop for 20 years.   “Like our full-line department stores, the new format John Lewis will being our differentiated service, inspiring products and great value to a new market.”   Gareth Thomas, retail director at John Lewis, said: “The new format has been based on an enormous amount of research, which showed us that there are areas of the country where consumers wanted to be able to shop at a John Lewis branch within a 40-minute journey of their home.   “We know our competitors have a much higher level of coverage in the UK than we do and our research has shown that there are growth opportunities for our business in smaller format shops, giving our customers more convenient access to John Lewis products.”   Ashworths Chartered Surveyors advises on out-of-town opportunities; Cushman & Wakefield advises on in-town locations.   annabel.dixon@rbi.co.uk