John Lewis considers closing more stores, but will Bristol be one of them ?
The High Street giant John Lewis is considering more store closures as it tries to cut costs and adapt to the boom in online shopping. This could be another blow for our High Street, up to eight department stores may remain permanently closed across the UK and could Bristol bevone of the one to potentailly go? This is on top of the eight stores they closed last year, which included two small travel hub shops at Heathrow and St Pancras. That may leave it with 34 stores, down from its current total of 4
In January, John Lewis said online its Christmas trading had been better than anticipated and that it expected its full year profits to be ahead of its previous guidance of a small loss or a small profit. •
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Any announcement on further store closures could come next month, when the John Lewis Partnership, which includes Waitrose, announces its annual results on 11th March.
John Lewis declined to comment in a online statement on the potential move, which was first reported by national paper.
The last set of results showed a half-year loss of £635m, and prompted it to cancel its annual staff bonus for the first time since 1953.
Any closures would be another blow to the high street and town centres, which are already grappling with the fall-out from the collapse of Debenhams and Sir Philip Green's Arcadia empire.
The shutting of more stores would be another blow for our High Street, which has seen the closure of a number of so-called anchor brands - big names that attract shoppers and other shops to the area.
The rise in internet shopping was exacerbated by various lockdown measures amid coronavirus, has forced John Lewis to rethink how many stores it needs.
Topshop, part of Sir Philip Green's failed Arcadia empire, and Debenhams have been among the high profile casualties of the shift of retailing online.
Losses They already expect up to 70% of its sales will be online by 2025.
Earlier this month, online fashion retailer Asos bought Topshop and other Arcadia brands Topman and Miss Selfridge out of administration. And Boohoo, another fast-growing online retailer, bought Arcadia brands Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton.
In July last year, John Lewis announced it was closing its stores in Birmingham, Croydon, Watford, Newbury, Swindon and Tamworth, as well as the smaller hubs at St Pancras and Heathrow, with the loss of 1,300 jobs.
Neither deal included the High Street stores. 23
