Construction

Flexible Format

John Lewis Exeter would be the first of ten proposed flexible format stores to open nationwide. The new format would stock edited highlights from the full John Lewis assortment, specifically tailored to individual locations. Access points throughout the store would allow full access via johnlewis.com. The new format store’s could range vastly in size because of their very individual nature, and this in turn allowed for a whole range of previously untouchable locations to become available.The Exeter would branch would feature five floors of selling space, that would highlight fashion, beauty, electronics and home.

Pop-up shop prepares public

The countdown started as the opening day of Exeter was announced as Friday 12 October. Excitement was mounting in Devon and Cornwall, whose population had to this point been denied of the department store’s delights. By July, work on the shop-fitting was well underway. In order to raise awareness of the Partnership in the weeks before opening, the first ever John Lewis ‘pop-up’ shop was opened on Exeter High Street. Open for six weeks, the shop previewed some of the products available in ‘John Lewis Exeter’, including John Lewis’s newest womanswear range. It also gave customers the opportunity to browse the whole product range, through the medium of the online kiosks.