John Lewis has warned that it could be forced to close branches this year to survive the "most challenging period" in its history.
The retailer's new boss, Dame Sharon White, said the company faces making "difficult decisions about stores and about jobs" at John Lewis and Waitrose.
In a statement to staff, she said the business is not generating enough profit to fund investment, reflecting previous warnings that earnings would be "significantly lower" than last year.
"John Lewis is the business for our times," White said.
"We should be owning the ethical and environmental agenda. I think in 2020 the partnership values are more important than ever. More than ten years since the financial crisis and as a country we are still asking: is business doing its role to create a good society, good jobs and decent pay?"
Last week experts said White faced a "mammoth" task to shore up the firm's precarious position.
White will have to steer the partnership through a tough restructuring, merging the two firms and axing a third of head office staff to save £100million per year.
And her three most senior executives - John Lewis boss Paula Nickolds, Waitrose managing director Rob Collins and outgoing chair Sir Charlie Mayfield - are all leaving.
Profits have fallen from £541million in 2017 to £162million last year, and are expected to be significantly lower in the year to January 2020 when the latest results are published.
As the first woman to run John Lewis, White is responsible for 80,000 employees and a company with a turnover of £11.7billion, but takes over without any formal retail experience.
In January, John Lewis warned that staff bonuses could be scrapped for the first time ever this year after a disastrous Christmas.
The move follows six consecutive years of falling bonuses - down from 5% in 2018 and 17% in 2013.
In a trading update in January, the department store also revealed its managing director had been sacked after a slump in sales.
