Key facts
- John Lewis will spend £20 million on its Glasgow store.
- This is part of a £50 million investment in shop upgrades this financial year.
- Other stores in Reading, Cambridge, Leicester, and Liverpool will also be refurbished.
- The Glasgow store's upgrades include expanding the beauty hall and adding new fashion labels.
- A new John Lewis Platter cafe-restaurant and technology/sports floors are planned for Glasgow.
- The refurbishment of the Glasgow store is expected to finish early next year.
John Lewis is set to invest £20 million in a significant refurbishment of its Glasgow store, signaling a strong vote of confidence in the city's retail sector. This initiative is part of a broader £50 million expenditure planned for the current financial year aimed at modernizing its shop portfolio across the UK, with other stores in Reading, Cambridge, Leicester, and Liverpool also slated for upgrades.
The planned enhancements for the Glasgow branch, located in the Buchanan Galleries, include an expanded beauty hall featuring a fragrance hall and gift emporium. The entire 28,000 square meter store will undergo upgrades, incorporating a new in-house cafe-restaurant named John Lewis Platter and an increased selection of women's and men's fashion labels. The lower ground floor, housing technology and sports sections, is expected to be completed by late September, with the overall refurbishment concluding in early next year. The store will remain operational throughout the renovation period.
Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow city council, expressed optimism about the investment, highlighting John Lewis's long-standing presence and its potential to remain a key shopping attraction for decades to come. The upgrade of this flagship tenant follows LandSec's successful planning permission for a major overhaul of the Buchanan Galleries, which will introduce new leisure, dining, and expanded retail spaces.
This investment by John Lewis is a key component of its larger strategy to spend £800 million by 2029 on revitalizing its 36 branches. The company is focusing on introducing brands with cross-generational appeal and transforming the traditional department store into a more experiential retail environment, a move designed to compete with the decline of rivals like Debenhams and Beales. Despite challenges in the retail sector, John Lewis reported a 3% increase in department store sales to £4.9 billion in the year ending January 31, with underlying profit rising 29% to £58 million, enabling the parent group to issue staff bonuses for the first time in four years.