John Lewis

John Lewis is the name of a major department store chain in the United Kingdom. The John Lewis Partnership is a public limited company held in trust on behalf of all its employees, referred to as partners. These partners are actively involved in the business’ running and decision-making processes, and are involved in John Lewis Partnership’s annual profit distribution. These earnings are over and above their annual salary. The John Lewis store chain caters to UK’s middle class shopper segment.

John Lewis as a retail brand came into being in 1864. This was when John Lewis established a draper’s shop on London’s Oxford Street. This shop eventually evolved into a department store, encouraging John Lewis to purchase the Peter Jones store on Sloane Square in 1905. The present power and profit-sharing policies of the Company was put into place by his son in 1920. The Company eventually evolved into a public limited company held in trust on behalf of all its employees or partners.

The John Lewis business philosophy states that if a customer could buy the same item cheaper elsewhere, the company is willing to refund the difference. This pledge has proved immensely popular and has sparked off many ’me too’ pledges among other retail stores all across the UK. A beneficial side effect of this policy is that it keeps a check on local competitors and maintains realistic and fair pricing.

The original John Lewis shop on Oxford Street was bombed out in the Second World War and rebuild gradually, finally reaching completion in 1960. In 1962, the company added a new branding medium in the form of the well-known Winged Figure sculpture to consolidate the John Lewis market image. John Lewis Partnership’s future business plans include opening a new department store every year over the coming decade.