John Lewis opens Leeds Victoria Gate store

John Lewis opened its doors to Leeds customers today, as the anchor to Hammerson’s £150m Victoria Gate Development.

Representing a £37m investment in Leeds, the 255,000 sq ft regional flagship shop has created 550 jobs locally, and is one of the largest John Lewis shops outside of London.

The Leeds shop is the retailer’s most service and experience led to date, offering customers a range of services from in-store beauty spa concepts and travel agents to an innovative coffee experience. As well as a full product assortment across John Lewis’s full fashion, beauty, home and technology ranges.

John Lewis Leeds is also supporting local talent by stocking over 120 products from 11 local Yorkshire suppliers, all of which are based within a 30 mile radius of Leeds as part of the retailer’s new ‘Made Locally’ initiative, in partnership with The Great British Exchange.

In the first hour of opening, the shop saw over 1000 people through its doors, and the very first purchase at John Lewis Leeds was a pair of red leather gloves.

Speaking about the opening, Maggie Porteous, Director Shop Trade, commented:

“John Lewis Leeds is our most service led shop to date, as we look to offer our customers experiences that cannot be replicated online. 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.”

Work started in April 2014 on the new £150 million Victoria Gate retail development, which is due to open in late 2016. The development will house one of the largest John Lewis stores outside of London. The detailed designs also include a casino, a multi-storey car park for up to 800 cars, Victoria Gate arcade with 30 stores, restaurants, cafes and leisure space. The first phase will also deliver up to 1,000 retail and hospitality jobs and up to 1,000 construction employment opportunities on site during the construction phases of the scheme. Project developer, Hammerson, is working with construction contractor Sir Robert McAlpine and key partner Leeds City Council to deliver the scheme.

Source : John Lewis Partnership
www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk

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