Department store John Lewis announced plans for a new store back in 2015, and it’s finally opening on Thursday 18th October.
With a combined investment of over £30m from John Lewis, BlackRock and Cheltenham Borough Council, the High Street store will provide “more convenient access to [John Lewis’] inspiring products and great service”.
What will the new floors look like?
These exclusive plans for the first John Lewis in Gloucestershire show the location of a wide range of departments and services, including a nail and brow bar, personal styling, tech support and a Huffkins café.
The shop will cover 115,000 sq ft space and has kept some of the same features from the Beechwood shopping centre which closed in 2015.
Why the delay?
The store was originally promised to open in 2017, but after being removed from the list of the firm’s new outlets, the opening was pushed back due to “preliminary project matters”. Cheltenham MP, Alex Chalk described it as a ‘regrettable slip’ in 2016.
In the long build-up to the grand opening, the store manager in Cheltenham, Martin Bundy, has been sharing behind the scenes preparations including training the 300 new partners.
What else is John Lewis bringing to Cheltenham?
Cheltenham Borough Council pledged to spend £700,000 on improving the town centre before the grand opening next week. So far, the funding has gone towards new benches, greenery and paving along the High Street.
John Lewis will also support the people of Cheltenham by introducing a charitable donation scheme, where shoppers can choose who they want to see the store support. Community Matters was launched by Waitrose, part of the John Lewis Partnership, in 2008. Three causes are chosen every three months and shoppers will get to vote for the charity of their choice – £3000 will be split between the chosen three according to the proportion of the vote they receive. If you want to nominate a worthy cause from Cheltenham you can pick up a form in-store.
People have been posting about how the new John Lewis store will be an asset to the town and community:
The Antidote Communications team had a great meeting with @jlandpartners this afternoon where we discussed the grand opening of the new John Lewis & Partners #Cheltenham shop. Just 13 days to go! #johnlewis #new pic.twitter.com/9uawdiWNys
— Antidote Comms (@AntidoteComms) October 4, 2018
On a scale of 100-100 how sad is it that I’m actually so excited for John Lewis to open in Cheltenham
— A (@rolleneairra_) September 9, 2017
Buzzing for John Lewis to be open in Cheltenham soon but it’s going to be so deadly now that they have makeup stands like urban decay and loads more 😭😭😭 rip bank account
— Paige Hooper (@Paige_hooper14) October 7, 2018
Ooh #JohnLewis #Cheltenham stock going in 👀 pic.twitter.com/H1Tb3XAh2p
— Lesley Sainty (@placeswithed) October 9, 2018