John Lewis opens flagship store in Leeds
John Lewis has opened a flagship store in Leeds that it says will focus on providing customers with experiences, rather than just goods.
The £37m store at the Victoria Gate Development in Leeds has created 550 jobs for the area.
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Covering 255,000 square feet, it is one of the biggest John Lewis department stores outside London.
The shop will not just focus on supplying goods – which are increasingly bought online – but will also offer services such as a travel agent and beauty spa to lure people onto the shop floor.
John Lewis said more than 1000 people entered the shop in the first hour of its opening.
Hundreds of people turned up to the opening of the new store (Source: John Lewis)
Maggie Porteous, director of shop trade at John Lewis, said: "John Lewis Leeds is our most service led shop to date, as we look to offer our customers experiences that cannot be replicated online.
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"The shop brings all of our best products and services under one roof, and we're really very excited to be able to open our doors to the shoppers of Leeds today."
The store opening comes at a time of investment for the company. In August, John Lewis announced it was investing £9m in its beauty halls to boost footfall.
The company has also committed to pay "well above" the new national living wage for its staff, but warned that this could lead to job losses.