John Lewis ‘optimistic’ on Eastgate – Street
JOHN Lewis is “extremely optimistic” it can reach a deal with developer Hammerson and Leeds City Council that will see its planned flagship store in the city go ahead.
But managing director Andy Street also warned that the city council had to create the “environment” for Hammerson’s Eastgate shopping development, where John Lewis will be built, to progress.
He told TheBusinessDesk.com: “We are determined to make this happen. We want to trade in Leeds because we believe as the regional capital we think there is the potential for us and we believe Leeds needs a John Lewis as well.
“We have not yet got a formal agreement between Hammerson and the City Council but we are extremely optimistic that the three parties will be able to get to agreement and therefore that there will be a formal announcement shortly.
“We have been looking for opportunities to come to the Leeds region for 30 years so is it disappointing that we are still looking rather than trading? Of course it is but do we entirely understand why the scheme that was on the blocks for ’07 was not able to go ahead? Of course we do and we are now working constructively with all other parties to make the new scheme viable and to make it go ahead.”
Mr Street was speaking at the Leeds Chamber Business Lunch, sponsored by Hammerson, this week and he told the audience the company was committed to the city but that needed to be matched by the local authority.
“What’s the environment like around the place that we want to locate? So there will be questions about car parking sufficiency, there will be questions about public realm, there will be questions about bus diversions and CPO of land to make it happen.
“To bring the huge retail regeneration of the city centre of the scale of Eastgate, this isn’t just about John lewis, lots of other things in the background have got to come together. That’s what we keep saying to the chief executive and leader of Leeds City Council. You’ve got to make that context happen so Hammerson can deliver their commercial piece.”
John Lewis is underepresented in Yorkshire in comparison to other parts of the country with a single store in Sheffield and the firm now has proposals to develop stores at Monks Cross, in York, and Leeds.
Mr Street said: “We have done all of our modelling and we are determined we should open in both places. In Yorkshire we are very poorly represented, with a good business in Sheffield and nothing more, and we see it as hugely advantageous we would open in both places within a few years of one another because that cements the brand in the region.
“We see in the south where we are very well covered you get a disproportionate benefit if your brand is strong so it’s very deliberate that we want to go to both places.”
Christmas is always seen as a critical time for retailers but the squeeze on consumer spending has raised speculation that this year’s festive period could spell the end for some high profile names.
“It’s obviously going to be a really challenging Christmas for retailers, primarily because consumers have less money to spend than this time last year so what we are all having to do is fight for an increasing share of a smaller cake overall.
“Am I extremely confident John Lewis will get more than its fair share this Christmas? Yes I am and the reason for that is we have already done this over the course of the year so far.
“We are expecting our overall sales to increase by about 4% and in the environment I actually think 4% would be a good outcome.
“If you are looking for high profile casualties in the next couple of months that won’t happen because this is the time when retailers make money. The real question is what happens in the leaner period of February onwards?”
Leeds Chamber of Commerce president Nigel Foster welcomed the commitment of John Lewis to the Eastgate development.
He said: “Retail is an important part of our economy both in the country and in Leeds. To have a premier retailer like John Lewis is allied to the success of Leeds.
“Eastgate has been pretty run down for a long period of time now and this is a real opportunity to bring it into the heart of the city. I think it really strengthens our retail offer in Leeds and a premier retailer like John Lewis is critical to that.
“A dynamic city is where we want to be. Our vision is to be the best city in the UK and it isn’t about any one development. It’s about how you create a sense of place and a sense of purpose and I think these sorts of developments are vital and it’s joining them all up that is critical.
“We are entering into a potentially really excellent period for the city with the developments that are proposed and coming on stream that will be transformational. What I’d like to see now is the development of peripheral parts of the city.”
