Major British retailer John Lewis has recently expanded into Europe, beginning a venture in partnership with Dutch department store chain, de Bijenkorf.
Today, I’ve decided to look into this news, reported by Europe Real Estate and conclude upon John Lewis’s intentions in the continent.
New markets
The first three ‘shop-in-shop’ departments will open in spring of next year at de Bijenkorf’s flagship stores in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague – this will be followed by more stores in the near future.
Customers will be offered John Lewis’s own-brand home and lifestyle products, which spans across bed, bath, living and gifting assortments.
European customers outside of the UK have been able to shop with John Lewis online since 2011 – John Lewis used this expansion as a litmus test for opening physical units. Clearly, the brand is attractive to Dutch customers.
John Lewis’s expansion isn’t its first, however. Earlier in the year the brand opened 14 shop-in-shops across Singapore and the Philippines, it’s also opened several outlets in Korea.
Andy Street, managing director, John Lewis, said:
“We’re delighted to be debuting our first European shop-in-shop and de Bijenkorf is the perfect partner to enable us to bring John Lewis to a new customer base and country.
Our existing shop-in-shops in Singapore, the Philippines and South Korea have been well received and are trading well. Whilst we remain committed to our UK physical expansion we hope to announce more international collaborations in 2016.”
Home appeal
A popular retailer known for its iconic advertisements in the run-up to Christmas in the UK, John Lewis operates 45 shops across the UK (32 department stores, 11 John Lewis at home and shops at St Pancras International and Heathrow Terminal 2) as well as its online outlet.
The brand is part of the John Lewis Partnership, a co-operative establishment that receives accolades for its structure.
These factors may be behind the evident popularity of the brand in Europe – whether this sentiment translates into transactions is yet to be judged however.
Nery Alaev
Nery Alaev is the current Director of ESN Investments GmbH, which engages in acquisition and development of commercial and residential property in Germany and Austria.