John Lewis has announced plans to reopen 13 stores next month, as the UK Government slowly relaxes rules for thousands of high street businesses.
The chain said branches in Poole and Kingston will be the first to reopen on June 15, followed by 11 more on June 18.
Sharon White, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: "The momentous events of the last few months have tested our resilience as a business, but our resourcefulness, innovation and the spirit of cooperation between Partners has really shone through."
It's the first time the chain has been forced to close in its 155-year history.
"It’s been heartwarming to see John Lewis Partners stepping into different roles to support our Waitrose supermarkets and to keep johnlewis.com running and I’m proud of everything our Partners across both our brands have done to help us get to this point."
The first two branches to reopen will be Kingston and Poole on June 15.
A total of 11 more will then follow on June 18. These will be: Bluewater, Cambridge, Cheadle, Cheltenham, High Wycombe, Horsham, Ipswich, Norwich, Nottingham, Solihull and Welwyn.
It said these branches have been selected "because of their accessibility by car".
The company added that more stores will reopen "throughout the summer" if customers and staff are able to maintain safety guidelines.
Prior to opening, each shop will undertake a four-week reopening preparation programme.
This will include counting stock, replenishment, preparation of systems, merchandising, deep cleaning, the introduction of social distancing measures, Partner training and final pre-opening checks.
What safety measures will be in place when stores reopen?
- The introduction of a “Customer Service Host” assigned to welcome customers into the store and answer any questions while managing customer numbers, queues both at entrances and busy areas of the shop and explain to customers what changes they might see in store.
- Reducing the number of shop entrances.
- Caps on the number of customers entering stores.
- Prominent social distancing signage.
- Protective screens at checkouts and areas of the shop where 2 metre social distancing cannot be achieved between customers and Partners.
- Control procedures for escalators and lifts limiting the number of users.
- Rigorous and frequent cleaning.
- Provision of hand sanitiser for customers to use at all entrances.
- Social distancing in back of house areas.
- New contactless payment limit of £45.
- Limiting the number of additional customer services - for example close-contact beauty services will not be offered and customer catering outlets and fitting rooms will remain closed until further notice.
- Safe and simple returns process - for example inline with government guidance we are going to separate returned stock from new or old stock for 72 hours.
