John Lewis is planning a “radical overhaul” of its landmark Peter Jones store in Chelsea in a bid to lift it into the top tier of retail destinations on the global stage, it emerged today.
The department store group’s executive director Peter Ruis sees the opportunity to raise the bar at the Sloane Square icon 20 years after the completion of its last major refurbishment in 2004.
According to Retail Week ideas include changing the ranges to reflect the well-heeled local Chelsea. Belgravia and Knightsbridge customer base and making better use of features such as the roof terrace – but the project is said to be at a very early stage.
Ruis told Retail Week: “What I can say is we have plans to radically overhaul Peter Jones to make it not just a flagship for Britain, but a flagship for the world in terms of a beautiful, one-of-a-kind department store.
“We’re working on how best to do that but we see the opportunity in that catchment to really move the bar and change how we’re perceived, and move some of our fashion assortment towards a more premium positioning – which I think that catchment would allow us – and to surprise people around what a John Lewis, in this case, Peter Jones, department store could look like.
“That’s ongoing. I’ve got no timing on that but it’s a strong ambition. We’re just looking at the best way of doing that. It’s an incredible building and it has elements that are unused. It’s an opportunity for us to really raise the bar.”
The modernist Grade II* listed building was designed by architect William Crabtree in the 1930s for John Lewis founder John Spedan Lewis. It underwent a five year upgrade between 1999 and 2004 at a cost of £107 million.
