Introduction and Opening

The forty-second John Lewis store opened at 5.30am on 4th June 2014. It was located within the first floor departure area of the newly rebuilt Terminal Two: Queen’s Terminal of Heathrow Airport. At 3,600 square feet it was, at the time of opening, John Lewis’ smallest shop . The store received 2000 visitors on its first day of trading. Customers were able to pay for their purchases in any one of ten currencies.

The idea behind the new small format was to ‘seed the brand’ by showcasing British brands and JL own product. All prices are discounted by 20% to reflect the ‘airside’ exclusion from VAT. The Queen’s Terminal serves flights to more than 50 destinations across Europe, North America and Asia and therefore a main objective of the Partnership’s airport store was to introduce the brand to customers who had never encountered John Lewis before.