Westfield and John Lewis Mark Handover

To mark the handover of the John Lewis store at Westfield Stratford City, Westfield and the retailer took Estates Gazette on a tour yesterday of the scheme and the new four-level department store which will open with the rest of the development in September next year.

The John Lewis department store is 240,000 sq. ft. and a 32,000 sq. ft. Waitrose sits below.  John Lewis's Retail Manager Samantha Rowntree told Estates Gazette that fit-out works on the full line store would begin in the next few weeks and would focus on updating and consolidating a range of concepts.

Within the store, a space of approximately 5,000 sq. ft. is reserved for the sale of 10,000 licensed Olympics products as John Lewis is a key sponsor of the Games.

Ms. Rowntree said:  "The catchment is huge, stretching out as far as Chelmsford and Kent.  We will look to communicate with customers in new ways such as via social media."

John Lewis is also committed to providing jobs for the local community and contributing to the wider regeneration of the area.  Ms. Rowntree continued:  "When we bring a department store to an area we want to be a part of the community.  We are working with Newham Council and Westfield on how we can ensure local people are job ready for what we do."

Westfield is opening a Retail Academy as part of the development offering permanent training facilities for the UK's biggest private industry. 

Read more and see the exclusive film tour at the Estates Gazette Blog.