THE new 250,000 sq ft John Lewis store in central Birmingham will be the “retail glue” which brings together the city’s key shopping outlets.
Andy Street, managing director of the mutual department store chain, said the company had coveted Birmingham for a long time before deciding the build a new shop as part of the ‘Gateway Plus’ New Street Station regeneration.
John Lewis, Network Rail and Birmingham City Council officially put an end to months of rumours by unveiling plans for the new department store on Station Street, an agreement two years in the finalising.
Mr Street told TheBusinessDesk.com: “We are planning for the long term. It’s going to be the natural heart of retail here in the future, the glue that holds everything together.
“We have chosen this location because it will stick every together like the Bullring and the Pallasades.”
The unit will have 155,000 sq ft of selling space over four floors, create 650 jobs in store with a further 350 roles expected to be delivered as a result of its presence in Birmingham through new projects.
Due to open in 2014, total development of the region’s second John Lewis store is expected to cost around £100m, with the co-operative pumping £35m into the project, and it will sell approximately 350,000 different products.
A public consultation is due to open mid-March with a revised planning application likely to be submitted in May.
City council leader Cllr Mike Whitby said: “The fact John Lewis has chosen this investment says a lot about Birmingham and its ever-growing reputation.
“To have them as part of the public and private sector family gives me cautious optimism. Throughout the board rooms of the retail world, they will sit up and take notice and say ‘Why aren’t we in Birmingham?’.”
John Lewis already has stores in the Touchwood shopping centre in Solihull as well as units in Nottingham and Leicester.
Map showing how new John Lewis store will fit into New Street Station redevelopment
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