The John Lewis Partnership has warned that it will not reopen all of its stores at the end of lockdown, while setting out the next stages of its estate strategy.
Chairman Sharon White said that the group is in talks with landlords, with final decisions to be made by the end of March.
She said: “Hard as it is, there is no getting away from the fact that some areas can no longer profitably sustain a John Lewis store.
“Regrettably, we do not expect to reopen all our John Lewis shops at the end of lockdown, which will also have implications for our supply chain.”
The group made a pretax loss of £517m in the year ending January, compared with £146m profit in the previous year.
The retail group said that after conducting “substantial” research, it will focus on four key areas for its five-year estate strategy, which it unveiled last year.
These include “destination” stores showcasing its products; smaller and more local service stores, in a new format; improved click-and-collect services in Waitrose stores and more local collection points through third parties such as the Co-op.
It is also trialling John Lewis store-in-store concepts at its Waitrose locations in Godalming, Horley, Wallingford, Lincoln and Lymington. The retailer said if this is successful, it will roll out the format to a “significant number” of its 331 Waitrose stores.
During the year, the group raised £136m from the sale and leaseback of 11 Waitrose shops. It is targeting a £300m cost reduction per year for the next two years, and investing £800m this year to support its turnaround.
The retailer warned that it expects its financial results next year to worsen – including liquidity, debt ratio, and profit before exceptionals – before improvement in later years.
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