JOHN Lewis has warned it could close more stores as it slumped to a £517million annual loss. The retail giant today said it “does not expect” all of its department stores to reopen once coronavirus lockdown restrictions are eased. John Lewis stores are temporarily closed across England, Wales and Scotland, along with all other non-essential […]
JOHN Lewis has warned it could close more stores as it slumped to a £517million annual loss.
The retail giant today said it “does not expect” all of its department stores to reopen once coronavirus lockdown restrictions are eased.
John Lewis stores are temporarily closed across England, Wales and Scotland, along with all other non-essential retail.
The shop said its financial loss was mainly due to restructuring and redundancy costs from store closures, a shift to online shopping, and changes to head office operations.
It marks the latest blow to the Covid-battered high street, after industry experts warned last year that the pandemic had been the the “worst time ever for retail”.
John Lewis Partnership chairman Sharon White said: “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 coronavirus crisis has been devastating for the already struggling UK high street.
Here’s a list of some of the shops that have had to shrink their number of stores, or close all their branches for good.
Here’s what we know so far about which stores will close:
John Lewis hasn’t confirmed which of its 42 shops could close after the lockdown rules are lifted.
The retail chain also hasn’t revealed how many jobs from its 80,000-strong workforce could be lost.
In its update today, John Lewis said it is in discussions with landlord and will confirm which stores will shut by the end of March.
It has already closed eight stores in July last year, in a move that put 1,300 jobs at risk.
The Sunday Times reported last month that another eight shops could go on top of this too.
It comes after the John Lewis Partnership – which also owns posh supermarket Waitrose – confirmed it was scrapping its annual staff bonus for the first time in 67 years.
The staff bonus began in 1920 and was originally paid out in the form of stocks and shares in the company.
In 1970, it was converted to the cash bonus staff get today.
John Lewis said it is “committed” to restarting bonuses as soon as its profit reach £150million.
It comes as the partnership is now targeting savings of £300million a year by 2022.
John Lewis has already closed eight stores in July last year.
Places that have shut include:
Seperately, the group has also confirmed the closure of four Waitrose stores.
This includes stores in Caldicot, Ipswich, Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton.
It’s estimated that over 43,000 retail jobs have been axed since the start of coronavirus lockdown as high street struggles to survive.
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