John Lewis Partnership is permanently closing four department stores and four At Home stores, putting 1,465 jobs at risk.
The retailer told staff this morning that it will shut its department stores in Peterborough, Aberdeen, York and Sheffield, as well as its At Home stores in Tunbridge Wells, Ashford, Basingstoke and Chester.
The closures will affect nearly 1m sq ft of retail space, according to figures from Radius Data Exchange.
These include around 261,000 sq ft in Peterborough and 200,000 sq ft in Aberdeen.
The department stores total some 821,000 sq ft of space, while the At Home stores collectively measure around 168,600 sq ft.
John Lewis will reopen its remaining 34 stores from 12 April, subject to government guidance, apart from its Glasgow and Edinburgh stores. These will respectively reopen on 26 April and 14 May.
Sharon White, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: “Today’s announcement is incredibly sad news for our affected partners, for our customers and for the communities we’ve served over many years.
“The high street is going through its biggest change for a generation and we are changing with it.”
Pippa Wicks, executive director for John Lewis, said: “Alongside a growing online business and the expansion of next day click and collect, we will invest in our in-store services and experiences, as well as new, smaller neighbourhood formats and the introduction of John Lewis ranges in more Waitrose shops.”
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