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John Lewis has announced plans to further its international footprint by opening shop-in-shops within 11 branches of SM department stores and ‘Our Home’ stores in the Philippines.
The SM group is one of the leading conglomerates in the Philippines focusing on retail, banking and property. It has been trading for over 50 years and has a turnover of $4bn and 160,000 employees.
The John Lewis shop-in-shop departments, due to open in the summer, will build on the success of John Lewis existing outlets in seven branches of South Korean department store Shinsegae, and follow John Lewis’s recent announcement to open shop-in-shop departments in three branches of Singapore department store Robinsons.
The dedicated John Lewis departments will be in SM Retail locations across the Philippines, including its flagship store Makati and three Our Home stores.
The sites will measure between 300sq ft and 1,000sq ft and will have dedicated staff. A wide range of own-brand home products including bed, bath, tableware and home accessories (such as candles and photo frames) will be on offer.
John Lewis said the move is part of its strategy to ‘seed its brand with international customers’, which includes international delivery to 33 countries through johnlewis.com and a shop in Heathrow’s Terminal 2.
Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis, said: “The success of our partnership with Shinsegae has given us the confidence to continue our expansion in the international market. SM Retail and Robinsons are the perfect partners to help bring the John Lewis brand to a new Asian customer base. We are actively looking for more international partnerships, and expect to make more announcements about our international plans in the next year.”
He added: “While our move into the Philippines and Singapore will give us access to a new emerging market, our focus for physical expansion remains firmly on the UK, with eight new shops scheduled to open across the country in the next few years.”
John Lewis operates 43 John Lewis shops across the UK (31 department stores, ten John Lewis at home and shops at St Pancras International and Heathrow Terminal 2) as well as johnlewis.com.
