Talk to me about the whole John Lewis thing

[notreallyuponJL]

As per the title, and inspired by another thread where someone was asking about the JL experience.

It's never been a place I would think of going to, not least because there wasn't one in my city until recent years, although other "posh" department stores very much existed. However, that store has now closed, as has the "JL At Home" which opened in 2011 and closed in 2020, and with a shift towards online shopping from a seemingly endless choice of retailers, I have to ask what the advantages of the likes of JL are.

I only ever knew one person who was a devout JL shopper, and it certainly tied into his overall arrogance & delusions of grandeur which applied to other aspects of his life...certainly the connotations (whether real or imagined) about shopping in Argos were ingrained in his mindset, principally because it came with a catalogue, which in itself had connotations of being for people who couldn't afford to buy what they wanted, and not helped that Argos was launched on the back of the success of the Greenshield stamp scheme.

My question comes from a place of genuine curiosity and not reverse snobbery, having only ordered from JL once, online, and it being an experience as good as any other right up to the point where they couldn't get stock to fulfill said order. Their customer service was horrific, and I've never used them since.

Given current trends and the uniformity that is the internet (not to mention how crowded and noisy it is), are some retailers (like JL) still able to stand out from the rest? If so, how and why?

i just like going there. I like the cooperative model, I wish there were far more cooperative business and housing options. It’s one of the remaining places it’s a sensual pleasure to shop, there are increasingly few. And my experience of their customer service is good.

It’s my go to option, not least because they do next day delivery to our local Waitrose. Generally think the own brand stuff is good quality and I like the ranges they carry. The dress hire system is good too. I also like the ethos.

I always buy John Lewis for their returns policy. I dont think I have ever actually returned anything. But many times I buy something and it breaks and I think why the fuck did I not buy this from John Lewis.

I worked there through uni, and it’s a genuinely fantastic employer. Customer service is a huge priority, we were told to go above and beyond to make a customer happy. Everything I’ve ever bought from there has been good and just did the job it was meant to do. I’ve also never felt I was being ripped off. Prices are matched and competitive and own brand stuff is far superior in quality to value ranges elsewhere. I’ve got a set of white cotton pillowcases from the any day range and they are so much nicer than Ikea, Debenhams or Asda ones I have.

If I want to buy something important, like a kettle, I would always go to John Lewis because I would know that they will sell say five kettles and none of them will be shit. Some thought and research will have gone in to the things that they have decided to sell.

I've only been to the one in Oxford Street. I find it crowded, claustrophobic and nothing special.
I suppose it depends what you are planning on buying. I've really only bought products that are brand names - so could be bought from anywhere else.
I don't get the obsession that people seem to have. I find their Christmas adverts daft.
Maybe other branches are nicer than Oxford Street?

I remember now a friend of mine having her TV set from JL and it had a five year guarantee. JL replaced like-for-like when it failed. This said, I was surprised to hear of a TV breaking down in under five years, as they seem so reliable these days.

We have a JL in a city shopping mall close to us. I go to this city specifically for JL. I have always had excellent customer service. They still fit bras, have personal shoppers. I love their homewares, gifts, Christmas displays, fabrics, furniture, lights. Its a proper department store selling decent quality and often stylish stuff.
Its a pleasant experience.
They have a good reward system and decent cafes.

Have to say I find it a very soothing place to be. No idea why. But I walk in and feel like my problems are a bit further away. Possibly linked to walking around it with my parents lots when I was little! Also the women’s clothes department carries a good range. Online I find it reliable.

I will admit that until I moved to London just over 15 years ago I didn't even know that John Lewis sold clothes.
I remember seeing one of the smaller John Lewis at Home stores and thinking "Isn't that just what they sell anyway?"

I like being able to order multiple brands from one retailer and have them arrive at my local Waitrose for collection the next day.

The stores are generally calm, well-lit and well laid-out, with reasonable amounts of space around the displays, and branding that doesn’t jangle your senses. Staff maybe aren’t quite as famously helpful/knowledgeable as they were a few years ago, but they’re generally better than average, particularly in the lingerie dept, or other specialist areas. I like JL’s own brand lines, which are decent value, and I like their relatively transparent approach to treating suppliers, staff and customers reasonably.

I have a local store. I’ve only been in to browse maybe 5 times in 12 years.

i accept what others are saying and am glad they’ve had good experiences but for me I feel it’s all a bit pretentious. Can’t explain why. Just do.

The part I will never understand about the Christmas adverts is that for all the noise made about them each and every year, JL never ever says how much revenue increased as a result of their latest campaign, or what the return on investment was.

There was a documentary about TV adverts which featured Iceland's banned "orangutan" advert, and the Iceland representative who was interviewed explained how all the hullabaloo surrounding the ASA ban on said advert forced it online, where it got seen more than they could have ever hoped for...and yet said Iceland saw no noticeable increase in sales, for all the attention it got.

I had a few rounds of recognition vouchers from Johnny Lou-Lous. Went to Oxford Street store to try out some mattresses, it was a perfect experience. Left alone to lay on several mattresses, twinkly calming music in the background, unobtrusive shop assistants who spoke informatively in hushed tones. I'd happily make most major purposes there.

The shops are nice, the staff are lovely and everything you buy there - clothes, homewares, makeup just works. Plus it's my closest big shop and has a good Waitrose in the basement. Oh, and I can always park easily, apart from Christmas week.

I first went in JL when my DC was a baby only because they had a feeding area. It stood out as being a much nicer environment than other shops in the same centre even though I couldn't tell you exactly why. Lighting, layout, music (do they even have any actually?) maybe a combination.
We mostly go now for the toy department when DC has some pocket money saved up because we have no actual toy shops close by, but I'll enjoy a proper wander around on the rare occasion I'm in that area on my own.

Actually I have just remembered that I have been to the one in Sloane Square with the different name (Peter Jones).
Online said they sold Nintendo Switch games.
Could I find any? They had a tiny pile behind the tills. I thought it was very odd that they weren't just on a shelf so customers could look at them.
Weird.

I like a wander round JL and buy a lot of stuff from there, but lately I’ve found that stock levels are lower than usual, and I get extremely pissed off by bloody dogs in there, often on long leads tripping people up. My mate works there as an interior designer and often finds dogs pissing on the rugs 😨

i like their beauty and skincare section tho

I love a mooch around John Lewis. My nearest store is just lovely. Lovely lighting and home department. It’s super easy to order online too and then I collect it often the next day for free from Waitrose which I can walk to. Couldn’t be easier. Easy to return things and their customer service is always top notch.

Just bought a sofa in the sale from them, it had £800 off. Delighted with it.

I’ve always shopped there because my family shopped there.
I hadn’t given it any thought but when I was volunteering with Homestart one of my families lived about 100m from JL and had never been in there and nor had the grandparents or (probably earlier generations). I had just asked, given that it was Christmas, whether they’d like to go there to look at the Xmas decorations with me and was told that JL is for posh people not the likes of them and they laughed like I’d suggested afternoon tea with the queen.

I remember doing Christmas shopping in a packed JL in Oxford Street when DS was about 3 months old, in the carrier and desperate for a feed. A member of staff could see that I was getting in a state, whisked me away to somewhere quiet (carrying my basket for me), and settled me there so I could feed DS in peace. I will always remember the kindness that that person showed to a new and frazzled mum.

We have a huge flagship JL with 3 entrances. 2 street side and 2 via the posh mall. The mall ground floor entrance makes one run the gamut of scent and make up smells that plays havoc with my asthma but I do find the customer service on products like this superior to most other JL departments.

As a shop I do think they could have done more competitively priced items. Their lighting department is over priced, the variety of products in kitchenware is underwhelming. We have a large Dunelm on the outskirts of town and JL Anyday cheaper range doesn't compete effectively except perhaps on bedding.

Clothing is weird at JL - ultra expensive and unwearable, no staff to be seen anywhere for guidance bar the personal shopper experience.

I went for shoes, it was busy and the assistant was rushed off her feet, but still took time to be pleasant and efficient. She carried the shoes to the till for me and arranged to leave them there while I mooched so I didn’t have to lug them round. So nice!
in contrast I went to Schuh where there was a lady greeting customers..but no actual people serving or if they were they needed more staff. I hung around waiting for for ten minutes and went back to John Lewis - the displays are lovely, the products appealing. It is, as another poster mentioned, ‘sensual’ you just feel a bit better for having looked at lovely things. And yes always buy big items from them.
im not sure about their stance in trans stuff though - I didn’t enjoy the staff member wearing a trans progress flag though. It’s too..pat. I’m trying to buy shoes not have their views on sexuality rammed down my throat.

@MaggieBsBoat well it is kind of "posh".
Many branches of JL (which I have no idea if they still exist) were originally owned by Selfridges which has always been considered a very fancy shop.
When American Mr Woolworth was thinking of setting up a store in England he was in talks with Mr Selfridge (thinking of a kind of joint venture) but decided his customers weren't the type that would shop at Selfridges - his customers wanted bargains.
Conclusion - John Lewis and Selfridges were (are?) the type of department stores for the posh folk.