I wish I was Rich :o) (John Lewis)

Member Name: josarah

Product:	John Lewis
Date:	10/11/05 (761 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good stock, slightly classier than debenhams

Disadvantages: Not many stores around

am getting married in March and have decided to go for a wedding list arrangement so that I don't receive 75 toasters / kettles etc, you get the picture. Also I think that it's nice to actually buy someone something they really want, rather than just crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. There were a number of shops where we could have hosted our list, or indeed we could have hosted our wedding list with a number of different stores through an online agency. We weighed up the pro's and con's of all of the options and the one that floated to the surface screaming 'pick me, pick me' was John Lewis.

*****What's it like then*****

The John Lewis I visited was a Solihull and was only opened in 2001. The store is 3 floors, with an art gallery above that has art for sale through the store. What I really appreciated was that at all entrance points to the store you should be able to find a map of the shop. Well there was a map available at the entrance that I used and I saw a few other map points at other entrances. I believe you do actually need a map for the Solihull John Lewis' as it is a large store and rather than have many floors with a few departments on them there are less floors, which occupy a larger floor area, so it's quite easy to get lost.

Armed with our map we ventured to the gift list section, which is also the area that deals with account payments and card problems. On our way we noticed that there was a gift wrapping service available too, which I thought was a nice little touch. Hopefully all our wedding gifts will come exquisitely wrapped!

*****Gift List*****

My thoughts about the store initially before visiting were that it would be old fashioned and full of expensive old fashioned items. What I found was that I was looking at the items thinking…oh, I really like that; that would be ace to get for our wedding; I wonder if someone would buy us that! So by the time we arrived to register for our gift list we were starting to get really excited.

The registration process was really easy and the lady who dealt with our query was really helpful and explained everything through really clearly. She even tripled checked our post code to see whether we were in any John Lewis free delivery area (we aren't), then asked if we had any relatives in Birmingham where we could get presents delivered to for free (we don't), so then explained that we could collect presents after the wedding, as well as selecting a few things that we could get before the wedding if we needed them for our honeymoon. Thumbs up so far on the customer service front then :o)

We were given a scanner, about the size of a Palm Pilot, which had a touch screen that you could change quantities of items on, in addition to checking what other items were in that range. That meant that you only had to scan 1 item from that range before selecting all other items from that range as well. This was a real handy feature and one that we used almost continuously. The scanner had the capability of checking your list by department, so that if you thought you had forgotten an item you could go into you list summary and double check, again this was a really handy feature.

When we registered for our list we were given a voucher for tea and pastry for 2 from the John Lewis Restaurant, this was well needed after 3 hours of wandering around Lewis's.

*****The Shop*****

John Lewis in Solihull, as I mentioned previously is 3 floors of shopping heaven. I didn't spend a massive amount of time looking at Ladies Fashions, although there was nearly a whole floor dedicated to this department (along toiletries and children's clothing). The clothes that I did see (whilst walking past) were nice looking and also looked fairly decent quality. They tended to look as if they were more suitable for the 'older' female but I'm sure with some digging you could find something for all ages. The children's clothes looked really funky and bright. There was no 'mini-adult' clothes on display which I think is a good thing. The children's clothing section also incorporated a Clarke's Shoe Shop which was busy every time we walked past, in addition to stocking a lot of branded school uniforms.

Downstairs was where the fun started to happen and is where you can find the china, glasses and silverware (a must for any wedding list), in addition to soft furnishings, lighting, clocks, art, textiles, gifts and kitchen type small appliances.

Further on downstairs was the menswear department which we didn't really look at as we had spent loads of time scanning stuff on the floor above. On this floor you will also find the audio and TV departments, large electrical appliances and seasonal items.

The range of items that you can get is fairly large, with a lot of the major names being present. The own brand John Lewis items however looked good quality and would not be something I was ashamed of buying.

One thing that did annoy me about the shop was the unrelenting heat, which made the experience slightly uncomfortable. Also the prices in the restaurant were on the astronomical side but I guess you would pay similarly for food in any major department store.

The one area in which I was pleasantly surprised was the price of the in store goods. John Lewis has always had its 'never knowingly undersold' strap line but I thought that was just for show. It seems that this pricing policy is actually adhered to. This is the reason that prices may differ from store to store as the policy only applies to locally available items.

*****What I liked about it*****

Well, there were a number of advantages about John Lewis over your typical high street department store. They allow you to purchase gifts online and you can access your list through the website. Guests can buy from your list by phoning, accessing a website or visiting a store. If they don't know what to get you they can always buy John Lewis Gift Vouchers. What also helped me choose John Lewis was that you didn't have to be restricted to things that they have in that stores stock, with a different department store I was told that I couldn't scan gifts from the main Birmingham store but could only select items from my local store (which was teensy!).

I liked the whole atmosphere of the place, and actually enjoyed shopping there (I normally hate shopping). The husband to be didn't get bored either so that was a good thing (maybe it was because we were spending other people's money!).

Feedback from other people who have hosted their lists at John Lewis was that the gifts arrived well packaged and on time. Any items that were out of stock were replaced either with vouchers or a similar item.

I know that John Lewis's can be portrayed as old fashioned and expensive, but I think that the items show good value for money. The things they sell that are readily available elsewhere tend to be decent and competitive prices and even their own brand stuff seems to compare favourable with other stores.

The staff all seemed to be cheerful and pleasant and I went away with the feeling that as a customer I was really valued. I heard a sales assistant say to a shopper that they could take the display items if they wanted (must have been the last in stock) and saw her go and fetch the box and wrap them up really securely for the chap. I haven't seen people being so nice to customers for a long time and for that John Lewis I commend you :o).

To find your nearest John Lewis Store visit johnlewis.com, for advice on pluralisation please leave me a message :o)

Jo

Summary: John Lewis, a classier Debenhams with a better pricing policy