Drapers Fashion retail industry news, trends and analysis
John Lewis
Iconic department store John Lewis, alongside its stablemate supermarket chain Waitrose, remain key players on today’s high street. The pair also form part of the employee-owned John Lewis & Partners. In 1864, founder John Spedan Lewis opened a small draper’s shop on London’s Oxford Street, and in 1905 the business bought control of fellow department store Peter Jones. Not to rest on its laurels, in 1937, John Lewis purchased Waitrose and a chain of ten shops from Wallace Waite. John Lewis has become synonymous with the festive season, as customers eagerly await its annual Christmas advert, which has previously shone a light on key societal topics such as loneliness and diversity. Business boomed for many decades, although John Lewis has faced challenges in recent years with profits falling, and has made the decision to scrap staff bonuses.
