Department store chain to roll out up to 50 specialist home stores across UK and Ireland as part of a £6m initiative.
The new format store will be a third of the size of a typical John Lewis branch and will stock homewares, furnishings and electrical and home technology products.

The first store in the £6m initiative is scheduled to open this autumn at an out-of-town retail park in Poole, Dorset.

John Lewis managing director Andy Street said: "This is a significant departure for our business. Poole will be our first new-format shop for 20 years."

The company says it has identified between 30 and 50 sites that could support the new format store, which will offer furniture, electrical items, linen and soft furnishings, haberdashery cookware and gifts.

The move seems an unusual one as many retailers have seen housewares sales dive during the credit crunch.

John Lewis' weekly figures, released last Friday, showed a 12% decline in home sales for the year so far, despite what the company described as "stellar results" in the department as a result of the warmer weather.

However, John Lewis retail director Gareth Thomas believes the new concept will be a success: "The new format has been based on research, which showed us that there are areas of the country where consumers wanted to be able to shop at a John Lewis branch within a 40-minute journey of their home."

He added: "We know our competitors have a much higher level of coverage in the UK than we do and our research has shown that there are growth opportunities for our business in smaller-format stores."

Part of the John Lewis Partnership, John Lewis operates has 27 department store outlets across the UK, with a new store opening in Cardiff later this year.