John Lewis is entering one of its most ambitious eras in decades, launching an £800m national reboot aimed at transforming every one of its 36 remaining department stores by 2029. With the pandemic years behind it and consumer confidence slowly recovering, the brand is moving decisively toward experiential retail, new fashion partnerships, modernised store concepts and lifestyle-driven layouts.
The company’s Bluewater store in Kent — now reopened after a £10m upgrade — offers the first look at this new direction, showcasing a vast Gifting Emporium, a redesigned home department and major expansions across beauty and fashion.
Key Takeaways: John Lewis’ £800m Experiential Retail Transformation
- John Lewis launches an £800m multi-year reboot to modernise all 36 of its stores by 2029.
- The Bluewater flagship receives a £10m revamp, including the first-ever Gifting Emporium and the biggest redesign of its home department.
- Managing Director Peter Ruis says the brand is replacing the “old stuffy department store” with a more experiential, lifestyle-led format.
- Despite past closures, the retailer confirms no plans to shut any more stores, though new openings are not currently scheduled.
- New fashion partners, revamped beauty halls, pop-up bookshops and faster delivery trials are central to the comeback strategy.
A New Model of Retail: John Lewis Bets Big on Store-Led Revival
John Lewis’ transformation arrives after one of the most challenging periods in its 161-year history. The company closed 16 stores during the pandemic, shed thousands of jobs and battled heavy losses. But as customer footfall returned post-Covid, the brand shifted into recovery mode — and now into expansionary thinking.
Managing Director Peter Ruis, who returned to John Lewis after more than a decade, is clear about the mission: bring “radical relevance” back to the chain’s once-traditional outlets. He argues that far from being outdated, the department store remains “a perfect invention” when reimagined for modern shoppers who increasingly seek inspiration, interaction and discovery.
Bluewater Store: The First Flagship of the New John Lewis
A £10m Transformation Built Around Inspiration and Discovery
The Bluewater store in Kent is the first to showcase the brand’s flagship concepts, and the scale of change is striking.
The First-Ever Gifting Emporium
Spread across 650 sq m — roughly the size of three tennis courts — the Gifting Emporium houses:
- 1,800 new products
- 14 new brands
- Gift zones organised by “passion points” such as Home Lover, Foodie, Botanist, Hobbies & Adventure and Wellness
This is designed to answer rising demand, with visits to John Lewis’ online gifting hub already up 15% year-on-year.
Ruis calls it an effort to “turbo charge” the retailer’s long-standing reputation as the home of year-round gifting.
A Reinvented Home Department
Bluewater also debuts the biggest overhaul of John Lewis’ home section to date. Instead of shopping product-by-product, customers navigate five lifestyle looks:
- Heritage
- Modern Lux
- Scandi
- Rustic
- Timeless
The goal is to help shoppers “shop by inspiration,” assembling rooms with far more clarity and ease.
Beauty, Fashion and Books: Fresh Additions for New Shoppers
Beyond gifting and home, the entire Bluewater store has been refreshed. Upgrades include:
- A redesigned beauty hall featuring premium brands such as Fenty, Byredo and Medik8
- Expanded men’s and women’s fashion floors to support new brand arrivals
- A Waterstones shop-in-shop, part of a wider push to blend retail with cultural and leisure experiences
Other revamped stores — including High Wycombe, Cheadle and Oxford Street — are also adding upgraded beauty halls, new cafés, Ori Caffès, and premium haircare brands such as Larry King, Moroccan Oil and Wella Professionals.
No More Closures — But New Store Openings Put on Hold
A major point of public interest is John Lewis’ store footprint. Ruiz has confirmed that:
- There are “definitely no plans to close anything.”
- The company is exploring expansion into regions where it has never been present, but
- The Partnership clarified that no new store openings are planned at this stage.
The current priority is investing heavily in the existing 36 stores to strengthen their position as full-day destinations for shopping, eating, gifting, reading, testing products and collecting online orders.
The employee-owned model gives the business financial stability, and the chain reported a £10m profit in the year to January after a return to growth.
New Brands and Faster Delivery: A Retail Strategy Built for Today’s Shopper
One of the clearest shifts is the renewed focus on fashion. Ruis — credited with reviving John Lewis’s fashion range in his earlier tenure — says the retailer has “big announcements coming” as new womenswear brands queue up to join.
Customers can already see evidence of this through:
- High-profile fashion partnerships such as Topshop
- New collaborations including Labrum London and Rejina Pyo
- A stronger appeal to teen and twenty-something shoppers
The company is also testing a 45-minute Uber Eats delivery service for items like beauty products and headphones — a move aimed at matching the immediacy of online shopping while drawing strength from physical stores.
A Defining Moment for John Lewis’ Future
John Lewis’ sweeping reboot marks a defining chapter in the retailer’s evolution. The combination of a bold £800m investment, lifestyle-led store design, stronger brand partnerships, upgraded beauty halls and a more experiential retail environment signals a clear intent: to stay relevant and competitive in a dramatically changed retail landscape.
With consumers returning to physical shopping and brands once again lining up to join its floors, John Lewis sees itself not merely surviving the post-pandemic world — but actively shaping the future of British department stores. The Bluewater transformation is only the beginning, and the coming years will show how far the chain’s new playbook can take it.
FAQs on John Lewis’ £800m Store Revamp and Expansion Strategy
1. What is included in John Lewis’ £800m store revamp plan?
John Lewis will modernise all 36 stores by 2029, upgrading gifting zones, home layouts, beauty halls, fashion floors and adding experiential concepts across key locations.
2. What makes the Bluewater store revamp significant?
The £10m Bluewater upgrade introduces the first Gifting Emporium, a redesigned home department with five styles, expanded beauty and fashion areas, and a Waterstones shop-in-shop.
3. Is John Lewis planning to open new stores?
John Lewis says it has no current plans to open new stores, though the company is exploring potential expansion into new regions.
4. Which new concepts are being added to John Lewis stores?
John Lewis is adding gifting emporiums, lifestyle-led home sections, premium beauty brands, pop-up Waterstones corners and experiential hospitality spaces.
5. How is John Lewis expanding its brand partnerships?
John Lewis is bringing new womenswear and lifestyle brands, including Topshop and emerging designers, as more labels express interest in joining its revamped stores.
