AIBU to want to shop at John Lewis for buttons, not a Brazilian?

[Quandry]

OMG. Never mind Brexit. If anything is likely to drive me out of the UK it's this:
John Lewis to swap haberdashery for bikini waxes and prosecco bars under new boss

The last bastion of Middle England is to be RUINED by some new upstart boss who thinks we care more about our minge than our muslin!

I'm warning her - there will be rioting in the streets...

[BaggyCheeks]

No. No. No no no no no!

I love the JL haberdashery, I love looking at the fancier crochet hooks, and stroking the different yarns.

If I wanted a wax, I could go to any number of local beauty therapists. It won't be like the nail bar in Harvey Nick's, if that's what they think they're doing.

[SwedishEdith]

I'm from the George Henry Lees of Liverpool generation. The haberdashery is a thing of immense importance!

Oh, yes. And just called Lees.

[Butteredpars1ps]

Right, when do we storm sit down at the barricades?

We need a Mumsnet sew in. I love haberdashery. There must not be a haberdashxit.

[VeryPunny]

I can totally see her point.

JL customer service is not all that, and for expensive items (white goods) I'll research the model I want and buy solely on price, almost never venturing into a real store. Shopping in the real world is a total PITA for me, involving expensive parking and two small children so I do it as rarely as possible. I buy most clothes online too, so I can try them on at my leisure and with other things in my wardrobe- and the JL website is excellent for this, with good outfit suggestions and convenient collect locations.

So when I do venture in to town for a mooch round shops, if I don't have the children with me I could see myself getting my nails done, or having a glass of fizz (although I draw the line at waxing) - I'm going for a day out, not for utility any more. And I note that many of you here just want to paw over the sparkly buttons rather than buy stuff

Sparkly buttons have low margins, low turnover and aren't going to pay the rent.

[Ringsender2]

feesh There isn't even a gap in the market for this stuff - other stores are already doing it. There is, however, a massive gap in the market for, well, John Lewis is it currently exists.

^^ this x one million

In the article, she even highlights that JL is the only true Dept Store left, as you can go in and get everything you want, from lightbulbs to knickers to toys to clothes, etc. Then she's proposing to swap the practical, useful stuff for waxing bars. Just no.

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

Not sure about the linked article as I didn't read that one, but I read another one earlier today that definitely said they were going to concentrate on things like waxes and prosecco bars, and make the atmosphere like a loft apartment or something, rather than doing "haberdashery and hats". Of course that doesn't mean they'll get rid of them entirely, but certainly scale them down (and ours is already massively scaled down from the old version before the remodelling about 10 years ago).

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

who can tweet this thread to them?! We need to protest!

[Blossomdeary]

Oh no! - where will I get my corsets!?

[MargotLovedTom]

All the people who are saying they love the haberdashery departments - how many of you actually spend money in there on a regular basis?! The company aren't going to make much dosh from people going in to stroke wool and fiddle with crochet hooks for fun .

[ImogenTubbs]

I would like to drink prosecco while shopping for buttons. Is that too much to ask...?

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

This is going to be like GBBO - they don't realise what they're unleashing - hordes of people who like it just the way it is and don't want some fancy new Channel 4 version of John Lewis and won't go there any more on principle...

[MargotLovedTom]

X post with VeryPunny.

[GrouchyKiwi]

I've tweeted it to them. Maybe if lots of people do they'll pay attention.

[MrsScrubbingbrush]

Magimedia I remember Tyrell & Green in Southampton when it was in Above Bar Street and the new site was still the Pirelli factory.

Do you remember Edwin Jones before it became Debenhams....my DF could never get used to calling it by its new name.

There was something very calming about JLs bed linen department, all the sheets arranged in a rainbow if colours. Happy days.

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

I spend money when I need something, which admittedly is not as often or as much as I need other things in there, but it is definitely the place I go when I need haberdashery. I went more often when it was a bigger department. At the moment, there are occasionally sales clerks in there who actually know about sewing and can answer questions. I'm much more likely to buy things when I find one of them. Too often it's random clerks from other departments who can do no more than read the packet labels to me, which is no help as I can do that myself. I want to know the practical stuff from someone who's used the materials or knows something about sewing.

The smaller the dept gets, the more likely they are to get rid of the sales people who actually sew or knit, and then there will be no point going there, so it will get smaller and smaller, until.. poof. Maybe that's their plan.

[RiverTam]

Clearly she wants JL to be Selfridges, which is a ghastly shop.

The depressing thing is that whilst JL service is neither as good as it was nor as it should be, it is still a squillion times better than the service you get on the rest of the high street.

[SwedishEdith]

I've bought stuff from their haberdashery dept three times in last month.

[SinglePringle]

Don't see the problem myself. I very much doubt they'll be expecting Mrs JL to be all legs akimbo in the middle of the lighting department (although, at least the beautician would be able to see well...).

If they have spa rooms already (my JL does), then what difference does it make?

[Cheesynightmare]

Oh god I remember this feeling when Woolworths was going down the pan - where was was I going to buy my nick naks from? now it's where will I buy, zips? buttons that match, thread that doesn't snap and of bra extensions..

[Quandry]

In my defence, I DO buys things - lots of things! But if I'm redoing a room it always starts with haberdashery. I'll look at fabrics/cushions/curtains to decide on a colour scheme/combination for a room, and then all the extra stuff e.g. pictures, knick nacks, bedding, towels etc are based on colours in the fabrics I've chosen for blinds or curtains. If the range of fabrics isn't there to choose from in the future then I probably won't bother going, and they'll lose the sale of all the 'extras'. When we redecorated our living room last year we spent thousands on curtains. I'd never have chosen them from a picture or a 30cm sample square of fabric though. It's only because I could look, see, touch several metres of the fabric in store that I felt confident they would look right.

[officerhinrika]

I remember Tyrell & Green & Pratts of Streatham! There's much less choice in the fabric departments now.
Don't want to even contemplate waxing, but why would I want to drink Prosecco there? I've got to drive home. The only John Lewis drink offer that works for me is the free coffee in Waitrose!

[Bestthingever]

I love the experience of John Lewis in terms of the layout etc but the customer service is dire. I spent a lot of time there on Saturday afternoon, visiting various departments, and didn't encounter one helpful assistant. They made me feel like an idiot tbh. I ended up buying nothing, although was in the mood for a splurge. Then visited the local primark. The difference was astonishing. The staff were smiling and helpful although the store was packed. One assistant who was busy restocking a rack heard me say something to dd and stopped her work to show me where the item I wanted was. In John Lewis I was almost jumping up and down to get attention!
Incidentally our local m and s has been deserted every time I've popped in to use the loo apart from the food hall. Its definitely lost its shine.

[magimedi]

MrsScrubbingbrush - Yes I remember it in Above Bar - handy for that wonderful library as well. The rot set in when they moved to the old Pirelli site.

Don't remember Edwin Jones - but I lived near Salisbury so T & G was a special journey for shopping.

[pointyshoes]

Tbh, JL has gone down over the last few years. Lost count of the number of times I've made a special journey to my local one ( very few other shops around it) to buy something very ordinary (eg dark grey/black men's socks) only to find they're out of stock, but I "can order them for click and collect". Not surprised they keep banging on how much their click and collect sales have risen - they carry so little stock, you end up having no choice but to order. It's turning into a upmarket Argos. Staff are awful, any questions about the stock and they look for the answer on their website. I can do that myself! Rant over

[BurnTheBlackSuit]

I think JL should employ SailingThroughTime. She's got some good ideas on the previous page.

Yes to catering to middle England and the new desire to upcycle and knit/crochet. So many people are into that now. I would love to make my own clothes, and I suspect many would, but need to be a bit more enabled than old style dusty patterns. Need a clothes sewing back to basics app.

And cooking- I love JL cooking section with all the gadgets and properly made tin openers. They need to make more of that. Cooking is big!

Big ticket items is hard because people want to save money and buy online, but if the customer service is brilliant, then you've got a good chance. People still want to see and touch stuff before they buy and need help choosing.

Other stuff- JL is a shop and they need to remember that. Somethings are nice to do when you are shopping- lunch (or even afternoon tea) and maybe a glass of prosecco on special occasions and a nice coffee or tea normally. Waxing?! NO!!! That won't work.