Maybe Waitrose should lower its prices a bit? Be a tad more competitive and not rely on people with income similar to a “retail consultant”?
Ahh the open letter. A much neglected tool of the attention starved to stay relevant.
John Lewis is an overpriced shop with terrible customer service. I’ll never shop there since they sent me out an item that was returned, and they never refunded me my £60. Awful store.
I wonder if part of the problem is that they, like Portas, geniunely think Waitrose is ‘part of the fabric of everyday British life’ and not an simply upper middle class staple / occasional / semi regular treat for the rest of us.
I have no idea what goes on in JL / Waitrose as I don’t shop there, but I can’t help noticing that their chief exec has no retail experience and seemingly wanted to pivot into becoming a corporate landlord so … Perhaps she has a point.
I cant reccomend Waitrose enough, and if youve not browsed online before – check their everyday / essentials range. Our weekly shop might have gone up maybe a tenner or so, although it’s hard to say as I do get extras/swap things that I wouldnt get at aldi or lidl. However, the quality, even of their essentials range, is leaps and bounds ahead of anything at ASDA, Aldi and Lidl. I mentioned this in a comment already, but the longevity of the fruit and vegetables is significantly higher.
For perspective, I lived in Germany for 5 years and when I came back to the UK 18 months ago, I was pretty shocked at how poor the quality of vegetables were in this country, it seemed different from what I remembered and I havent been happy with quality or flavour since then. Fast forward to doing my first waitrose shop about 4 weeks ago and I am genuinely happy with the food quality again. I tried Asda, Sainsburys, Tesco (which i think is the worst of them all), aldi and lidl and I settled with aldi and lidl as atleast they were cheap.
Any way, my point is don’t let what others have said about something paint your picture, i’d reccomend checking their website and you might be suprised at how well priced it is, and I am very confident the quality is leaps ahead, and for me that comes at a premium of ~£40 a month – I’d rather do that and have good food all week and cut off a take away or two.
After saying they are going to water down the partnership (sell off) im not surprised.
I choose to shop there because of their culture and ethics. I trust that they treat people with dignity.
If they dilute the partner programme I don’t see how they are different from Amazon.
I think John Lewis suffers from the same problem that all department stores do.
I occasionally wander in looking for something, don’t find what I want and realise that things are cheaper online and I have more choice online, so what was the point of being there in the first place.
I really think the age of the department store is probably over.
Sharon White is running John Lewis to the ground, with no experience in retail. They have outsourced their customer service to third parties which soil the customer service experience. Now they want to build rental homes, and sell part of the business to private investors.
I thought the only thing JL had going for them was a decent returns/insurance policy on electrical goods and the like. I don’t know why else anyone would shop there, it certainly isn’t the cheaper option.
She said this about another high street chain store that I used to work in ( sounds like Lace BK) . The brand I was working for in that particular store sent her a set of stuff, for her to then get an assistint to bring the gift item in store for an exchange LOL
I’m pretty sure that she will now be gifted all sorts of items from that announcement.
I don’t rate Mary Portas, she just stating the obvious, the high street is fast going downhill and a lot of us are shopping online. John Lewis was never anything like seflridges which is more modern with djs, events, art installations in the window etc. John Lewis was never that sort of retail experience and I doubt it will ever will be. It’s got a very sensible chill vibe about it.
> Mary Portas said John Lewis and its supermarket chain, Waitrose, were part of the “fabric of everyday British life”
This is extremely melodramatic. They’re just shops, and most people don’t go to either regularly…
I think John Lewis outgrew its potential customer base which is shrinking anyway due to inflation and wage stagnation.
Maybe department stores just aren’t as relevant anymore. No idea why people keep thinking of this TV presenter as some sort of authority figure. If she knows so much why didn’t she found the next Amazon or something?
She’s right. I shopped regularly in Waitrose for years but just had to stop.
The current staff voted in favour of reducing staff perks in exchange for a pay rise just for them. Any future staff get considerably reduced T&Cs compared to them. They sold future generations out for a payoff.
They introduced horrible self service check outs. Literally Turkeys voting for Christmas. The service you used to receive in Waitrose was part of their soul. Now you have a tablet showing you scanning your own shopping to remind you that you’re being recorded, just in case you’re stealing.
Any time a product sells well, Waitrose introduce their own, inferior version and then hike the price of the original product and purposefully low stock it. (Examples include Yeo Vally organic milk, Tilda basmati rice etc).
Waitrose removed best before dates on veg whilst still charging premium price for them. I don’t mind paying, but I do mind it turning to mush before I can eat it.
Their cafes are garbage. There I said it. When you get supermarket staff to run cafes it just doesn’t work. “John not cutting it on the shop floor? Just stick him in the cafe!” is a terrible way to run things.
The essentials range is a joke. Most of it is cheaper because of its lower quality (watery baked beans etc). It’s also some horribly closeted posh persons idea of what people with less money actually want (see Essential Flageolet beans in water, Essential Pate, Essential Artichoke Hearts etc).
Their “less than perfect” veg is unusable. 1kg of reject quality carrots, once peeled, equals about 10g of actual carrot. A false economy if ever their was one.
Out of the 4 supermarkets in town, Waitrose’s food bank donation box is always empty. Always. Who’d want to be associated with people like that?
Greed has seeped into every aisle of waitrose. Nothing says “More money than sense” better than a waitrose bag.
I’ve been in John Lewis and I’ve been in Waitrose.
They are just shops that sells things.
Shops have no soul.
I stopped buying at John Lewis about 10 years ago. I found their products are not as good quality and having to return several poorly made item several times. Their customer services used to be unquestionable but now its almost bordering on contemptuous.
I called in at JL store in High Wycombe for the first time in 20 years to look at freezers and was surprised to find it shabby (they no longer have a white goods section).
Waitrose on the other hand is good. Pricier but better range of decent quality foods, clean stores and impeccable customer service.
I can see Waitrose being offloaded as a separate entity and JL department stores going the same way as Debenhams.
Sad but it has certainly been run down over two decades.
I admire the partnership model of John Lewis.
However, what does JL offer that’s unique and innovative? What does it offer that can’t be bought on the web?
Now compare JL to a store like Decathlon where almost every product line is innovative, functional and competitively priced. In fact Decathlon offers products that simply can’t be bought from other retailers online. As a consumer, that is value. A store like JL just offers a “me too” range of stuff you can find anywhere. As I see it, that’s the main problem with JL.
I like Waitrose, great range of produce that you won’t get in Tesco or Sainsbury’s. They have a decent quality budget range as well, I go in twice a month for a big planned shop, purely because I know I can get items that wouldn’t be available anywhere else.
I always buy all my electrical goods from JL at Cheadle Royal. Love the ‘Are You Being Served’ ambiance. Sharon White is a disaster. No retail experience whatsoever.
I’m a big defender of cooperatives and partnerships – there’s no argument against them. If you want to know what happens when hedge funds and the likes move in just look at the de-mutualised Building Societies and the main multi division Co-op. Nothing like what it was. Co-op bank now American hedge fund owned and with atrocious customer service – see Trust Pilot. The main, original Co-op movement is in tatters. One can hope JL doesn’t go the same way.
I like to use John Lewis as a showroom to Amazon/eBay purchases
22 comments
Maybe Waitrose should lower its prices a bit? Be a tad more competitive and not rely on people with income similar to a “retail consultant”?
Ahh the open letter. A much neglected tool of the attention starved to stay relevant.
John Lewis is an overpriced shop with terrible customer service. I’ll never shop there since they sent me out an item that was returned, and they never refunded me my £60. Awful store.
I wonder if part of the problem is that they, like Portas, geniunely think Waitrose is ‘part of the fabric of everyday British life’ and not an simply upper middle class staple / occasional / semi regular treat for the rest of us.
I have no idea what goes on in JL / Waitrose as I don’t shop there, but I can’t help noticing that their chief exec has no retail experience and seemingly wanted to pivot into becoming a corporate landlord so … Perhaps she has a point.
I cant reccomend Waitrose enough, and if youve not browsed online before – check their everyday / essentials range. Our weekly shop might have gone up maybe a tenner or so, although it’s hard to say as I do get extras/swap things that I wouldnt get at aldi or lidl. However, the quality, even of their essentials range, is leaps and bounds ahead of anything at ASDA, Aldi and Lidl. I mentioned this in a comment already, but the longevity of the fruit and vegetables is significantly higher.
For perspective, I lived in Germany for 5 years and when I came back to the UK 18 months ago, I was pretty shocked at how poor the quality of vegetables were in this country, it seemed different from what I remembered and I havent been happy with quality or flavour since then. Fast forward to doing my first waitrose shop about 4 weeks ago and I am genuinely happy with the food quality again. I tried Asda, Sainsburys, Tesco (which i think is the worst of them all), aldi and lidl and I settled with aldi and lidl as atleast they were cheap.
Any way, my point is don’t let what others have said about something paint your picture, i’d reccomend checking their website and you might be suprised at how well priced it is, and I am very confident the quality is leaps ahead, and for me that comes at a premium of ~£40 a month – I’d rather do that and have good food all week and cut off a take away or two.
After saying they are going to water down the partnership (sell off) im not surprised.
I choose to shop there because of their culture and ethics. I trust that they treat people with dignity.
If they dilute the partner programme I don’t see how they are different from Amazon.
I think John Lewis suffers from the same problem that all department stores do.
I occasionally wander in looking for something, don’t find what I want and realise that things are cheaper online and I have more choice online, so what was the point of being there in the first place.
I really think the age of the department store is probably over.
Sharon White is running John Lewis to the ground, with no experience in retail. They have outsourced their customer service to third parties which soil the customer service experience. Now they want to build rental homes, and sell part of the business to private investors.
I thought the only thing JL had going for them was a decent returns/insurance policy on electrical goods and the like. I don’t know why else anyone would shop there, it certainly isn’t the cheaper option.
She said this about another high street chain store that I used to work in ( sounds like Lace BK) . The brand I was working for in that particular store sent her a set of stuff, for her to then get an assistint to bring the gift item in store for an exchange LOL
I’m pretty sure that she will now be gifted all sorts of items from that announcement.
I don’t rate Mary Portas, she just stating the obvious, the high street is fast going downhill and a lot of us are shopping online. John Lewis was never anything like seflridges which is more modern with djs, events, art installations in the window etc. John Lewis was never that sort of retail experience and I doubt it will ever will be. It’s got a very sensible chill vibe about it.
> Mary Portas said John Lewis and its supermarket chain, Waitrose, were part of the “fabric of everyday British life”
This is extremely melodramatic. They’re just shops, and most people don’t go to either regularly…
I think John Lewis outgrew its potential customer base which is shrinking anyway due to inflation and wage stagnation.
Maybe department stores just aren’t as relevant anymore. No idea why people keep thinking of this TV presenter as some sort of authority figure. If she knows so much why didn’t she found the next Amazon or something?
She’s right. I shopped regularly in Waitrose for years but just had to stop.
The current staff voted in favour of reducing staff perks in exchange for a pay rise just for them. Any future staff get considerably reduced T&Cs compared to them. They sold future generations out for a payoff.
They introduced horrible self service check outs. Literally Turkeys voting for Christmas. The service you used to receive in Waitrose was part of their soul. Now you have a tablet showing you scanning your own shopping to remind you that you’re being recorded, just in case you’re stealing.
Any time a product sells well, Waitrose introduce their own, inferior version and then hike the price of the original product and purposefully low stock it. (Examples include Yeo Vally organic milk, Tilda basmati rice etc).
Waitrose removed best before dates on veg whilst still charging premium price for them. I don’t mind paying, but I do mind it turning to mush before I can eat it.
Their cafes are garbage. There I said it. When you get supermarket staff to run cafes it just doesn’t work. “John not cutting it on the shop floor? Just stick him in the cafe!” is a terrible way to run things.
The essentials range is a joke. Most of it is cheaper because of its lower quality (watery baked beans etc). It’s also some horribly closeted posh persons idea of what people with less money actually want (see Essential Flageolet beans in water, Essential Pate, Essential Artichoke Hearts etc).
Their “less than perfect” veg is unusable. 1kg of reject quality carrots, once peeled, equals about 10g of actual carrot. A false economy if ever their was one.
Out of the 4 supermarkets in town, Waitrose’s food bank donation box is always empty. Always. Who’d want to be associated with people like that?
Greed has seeped into every aisle of waitrose. Nothing says “More money than sense” better than a waitrose bag.
I’ve been in John Lewis and I’ve been in Waitrose.
They are just shops that sells things.
Shops have no soul.
I stopped buying at John Lewis about 10 years ago. I found their products are not as good quality and having to return several poorly made item several times. Their customer services used to be unquestionable but now its almost bordering on contemptuous.
I called in at JL store in High Wycombe for the first time in 20 years to look at freezers and was surprised to find it shabby (they no longer have a white goods section).
Waitrose on the other hand is good. Pricier but better range of decent quality foods, clean stores and impeccable customer service.
I can see Waitrose being offloaded as a separate entity and JL department stores going the same way as Debenhams.
Sad but it has certainly been run down over two decades.
I admire the partnership model of John Lewis.
However, what does JL offer that’s unique and innovative? What does it offer that can’t be bought on the web?
Now compare JL to a store like Decathlon where almost every product line is innovative, functional and competitively priced. In fact Decathlon offers products that simply can’t be bought from other retailers online. As a consumer, that is value. A store like JL just offers a “me too” range of stuff you can find anywhere. As I see it, that’s the main problem with JL.
I like Waitrose, great range of produce that you won’t get in Tesco or Sainsbury’s. They have a decent quality budget range as well, I go in twice a month for a big planned shop, purely because I know I can get items that wouldn’t be available anywhere else.
I always buy all my electrical goods from JL at Cheadle Royal. Love the ‘Are You Being Served’ ambiance. Sharon White is a disaster. No retail experience whatsoever.
I’m a big defender of cooperatives and partnerships – there’s no argument against them. If you want to know what happens when hedge funds and the likes move in just look at the de-mutualised Building Societies and the main multi division Co-op. Nothing like what it was. Co-op bank now American hedge fund owned and with atrocious customer service – see Trust Pilot. The main, original Co-op movement is in tatters. One can hope JL doesn’t go the same way.
I like to use John Lewis as a showroom to Amazon/eBay purchases