Is John Lewis the next Department store to face problems?

[Ifailed]

profits down by 99% for the past 6 months & that includes Waitrose, so presumably the Dept Store side of things made a loss.

Are we seeing the final demise of Department Stores in the UK?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45506322

Meanwhile it seems tough titty for some HoF customers

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45520194

House of Fraser customers have been told that they'll get no refunds for goods ordered online but undelivered before the chain was bought last month.

(contd).

I don't recognise my local JL in Bluewater in all these negative experiences. I bought a new hob from JL about 6 weeks ago. I bought it in shore on a Wednesday, it was delivered, fitted and the old hob taken away the next Saturday. There is a big crafts / haberdashery dept with qualified staff ready to give advice.

There is a big crafts / haberdashery dept with... ...no coat hanging loops ...

Coat hooks yes. But I don't want those. Whether Oak, Rosewood or Mahogany ... (see also HobbyCraft) ...

I like John Lewis and hope they don't close. Have good quality items and I always buy my electrical there

Wasn't keen on Westfield one and clothes in JL are expensive

I am not a crafter or a knitter but I see more of these little shops opening up, with classes. So this type of hobby is more popular.

You would think the dept stores would get on board rather than shrinking their offer (JL) or not featuring at all. They could hold classes on all sorts of crafts - something worth venturing to a bricks and mortar store for.

Customer service has fallen through the floor in recent years. Not the shopping experience it once was.

I also asked John Lewis online to price match a very expensive (£900) tumble dryer. After much debate they agreed to price match and promptly listed said tumble dryer as out of stock. I bought it from ao instead.

The in-store experience really varies between stores. On two consecutive trips to JL in High Wycombe the customer service was absolutely perfect. I was so bowled over by it the first time because every single member of staff was so helpful and welcoming that I actually wrote to tell them how great it was (not something I usually do).

My most recent JL visit was to the Milton Keynes store where we had an unsatisfactory shoe fitting experience and the food and service in the café wasn't up to usual standards.

I used to go to JL Oxford Street at least once a week. I loved it there for shopping for gifts and homewares mostly. I'll be interested to see what the refit is like.

I really hope that John Lewis stores survive. They're pretty much the only way I enjoy shopping!

@DisgraceToTheYChromosome

“Debenhams are doing a fair bit in the supply chain, but their garment processing ability is going, so all your lingerie will arrive pre-licked.”

What does this mean? Who’s going to lick my underwear?!?!?

You would think the dept stores would get on board rather than shrinking their offer (JL) or not featuring at all. They could hold classes on all sorts of crafts - something worth venturing to a bricks and mortar store for.

The new shop in Leeds does. There is a craft room groups can hire, and JL put on demos etc. It is in the haberdashery dept.

I went into Primark today - it was packed! Debenhams next. Was eerily quiet. I bought a couple of things in Primark and nothing in Debenhams. I just don't think department stores are what people want now. I will miss Debenhams if it goes though.

I feel the rebrand has been a massive waste of time and money
The waitrose offer labels are now wine red instead of green and much harder to spot (perhaps that was their plan...)

The new JL in White City Westfield didn't impress me either and I wouldn't bother visiting it again (even when in Westfield)

I hope not, but with the cost of leases it is possible.

I think Debenhams will be first as others have suggested.

JL cannot rely on Christmas it is nowhere as big as it was 20 or 30 years ago. Toys were huge then, I know people with young children who have no toys in their house or garden. Also fashion and clothing were big with people buying new outfits every week. People can not afford to do this now they just don’t have the disposable income. Whether we like it or not we are all poorer than we were.

I hope not.
Although when they started selling Miss Selfridge online I was a bit .
I used to work for HoF when they first introduced the Fraser Card. They would offer vouchers to staff for every credit account created and there was BIG pressure on staff to meet targets for this. I knew then that they were heading in the wrong direction.

I was in House of Fraser in town today.

Although quiet is an understatement, the whole town was like that.

Saturday afternoon and it was like a weekday morning.

I went to JL Oxford St today. It felt like every middle class 18 year old in London was there buying kettles and saucepans with their mum. Bra fitter who I called in to give me a hand and get more sizes for me was absolutely brilliant - the interventionists would have given her a medal.

I received my My John Lewis vouchers today and was most dismayed to discover that the usual voucher for free coffee & cake wasn't there, which basically meant that the vouchers weren't worth the paper they were printed on as I only ever use the coffee & cake voucher.

This is obviously not viable for them anymore. It's a shame though as it's a good tactic. There have been a couple of occasions that knowing that my cake voucher was due to expire that I have shoehorned a JL trip into my week and made other purchases while I was there.

I went to 7 big shops today, just looking for 4 items (3 really as 1 was specific to just 1 of the shops) and still had to resort to Amazon for 1 item.
My 3 items were: a cream beading set; a fluffy purple blanket (not a teddy bear one); a set of'underwear' for all 9 year old which included a crop top; shin pads.
When the shops don't have a good selection, of course you will search online.

Even Fenwick are shedding staff in their stores, though they're increasing their head office staff as they finally get around to the new fangled interweb stuff.

Its flagship Newcastle store is pretty much next door to John Lewis, which used to be Bainbridges. I love how the stores complement each other, though jl's smart layout has become a little more haphazard, lately. Fenwick is embracing the modern and glitzy but still retains that old fashioned department store feel. It out does a jl Christmas by turning half a floor into a Christmas shop and, of course, has its famous window display that people travel into town to see.

Debenham and M&S look like jumble sales in comparison to either store.

The JL price match works on things they've sold their selves, btw.

Bought a new washer, last December. Had just moved in and the integrated washer was crap and as manky as hell. Ordered on Monday, delivered on Friday. An hour after delivery, I got a Google alert, based on my browsing, informing me that they'd reduced it by £50.

So I filled in the online form and got that £50 back.

Love John Lewis and shop there weekly. It’s not thr next HofF. Debs will go first.

Christmas is still the biggest sales period of the year and it's massive - the difference is people are shopping online instead of fighting their way round with the hordes.

I received my My John Lewis vouchers today and was most dismayed to discover that the usual voucher for free coffee & cake wasn't there

That’s odd. Mine arrived this week too but had a coffee and cake voucher as normal.