Kuoni’s outlet in the Aberdeen branch of John Lewis will close, as the department store retailer axes shops across the country.
John Lewis said on Wednesday that it will not reopen eight of its 42 stores once lockdown eases.
The closures include department stores in Aberdeen, Peterborough, Sheffield and York plus four ‘At Home’ shops in Ashford and Tunbridge Wells in Kent; Basingstoke, Hampshire; and Chester, Cheshire.
The remaining 34 John Lewis shops will reopen from April 12, subject to government guidance, with the exception of Glasgow, which will reopen from April 26, and Edinburgh, which will reopen on May 14.
A spokesperson for Kuoni said: “Following news this morning from John Lewis & Partners about proposed store closures, unfortunately this does impact one of our Kuoni stores, which is Aberdeen.
“We have an experienced and talented team of three based in Aberdeen and have spoken to them directly about the proposed changes and have confirmed their jobs are safe and they will continue to work within our virtual call centre.
“We’re in discussions with John Lewis & Partners about reopening plans and a number of our stores within John Lewis shops will reopen on 12 April as planned, which includes Reading, Southampton, Norwich, Chelmsford, Cardiff and Peter Jones, London.”
Kuoni first opened concessions within John Lewis stores in 2012, starting with London’s Oxford Street; Cardiff; Southampton and Reading.
John Lewis said in a statement: “We can unfortunately no longer profitably sustain a large John Lewis store in some locations where we do not have enough customers, which is resulting in the proposed closures. The eight shops were financially challenged prior to the pandemic.
“Given the significant shift to online shopping in recent years – and our belief that this trend will not materially reverse – we do not think the performance of these eight stores can be substantially improved.
“We expect 60% to 70% of John Lewis sales to be made online in the future. Nearly 50% of our customers now use a combination of both store and online when making a purchase.”