John Lewis Leeds officially opens at Victoria Gate

John Lewis Leeds officially opened to customers for the first time at 10am on Thursday 20th October, as the anchor to Hammerson’s Victoria Gate Development.

Representing a £37m investment in Leeds, the 255,000 sq ft site has created 550 jobs and is one of the largest John Lewis shops outside of London.

The Leeds shop, which is the retailer’s third in Yorkshire, offers customers a range of services from in-store beauty spa concepts and travel agents to an innovative coffee experience.

John Lewis Leeds also supports local talent stocking over 120 products from 11 Yorkshire suppliers, all of which are based within a 30 mile radius of Leeds.

To officially open the shop, a ribbon was cut by representatives from local organisations that the shop is supporting as part of its charitable giving scheme, Community Matters. The ceremony was attended by representatives from St Gemma’s Hospice, Lineham Farm and Care & Repair.

In the first hour of opening, the shop saw over 1,500 people through its doors, and the very first purchase at John Lewis Leeds was a pair of red leather gloves.

James Prince, Head of Branch, commented: “My team and I are delighted to welcome customers through our doors for the first time, and serve the people of Leeds. It’s our most service and experiential led shop to date, as we continue to offer more for customers that can’t be replicated online.

“Our recruitment process has been incredibly successful, and as a result, we have an exceptional team, with 550 partners from across the region.

“The drive was one of the most popular recruitment campaigns I’ve seen and the response from the local community and surrounding areas was really encouraging.”

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