New store target doubled
John Lewis this week signalled ambitious plans to step up its store-opening programme.

Speaking at this week's BCSC conference in Manchester, managing director Charlie Mayfield said the company planned to open a further 10 stores, on top of the 11 it has committed to already.

Mayfield said that even with its present aggressive expansion plans, the partnership would only have department stores in half of the top 50 shopping centres in the UK. 'We would like to reach more of these customers and are setting our sights on a further 10 shops,' he told the 3,000 delegates.

The company has met a target of 10 new stores set my Mayfield's predecessor Luke Mayhew at the BCSC conference three years ago. Most recently, it announced plans last month for a store at the Stratford City development in east London. Other centres where stores are planned include Crawley, Leicester and Leeds, plus relocations in Liverpool and Portsmouth.

Mayfield said John Lewis was determined to work closely with local councils and developers to ensure the new stores help regenerate the places in which they are located.