John Lewis

Reading reference 1 this morning, I got confused about the basic numbers at John Lewis, and decided, having nothing better to do, that a little digging was in order. Which turned up the following from various places in the John Lewis web world.

The top line. Ten times as many Waitrose stores as John Lewis stores. Although I believe that the line between them is getting blurred, with more of the John Lewis offering now to be found in Waitrose stores.

The money.  In terms of turnover and profit, Waitrose is about a third bigger than John Lewis.

By way of comparison, the story from the most recent annual report from Tesco's, more than four times bigger - but with much lower margins and making the same sort of money in total. Or at least, that is how it looks to me. Maybe the figures are not that comparable.

The people. There only seemed to be one of these reports, called 'Partner Data', more than five years old now. Suggesting that a John Lewis partner generates more money than a Waitrose partner, but nothing like twice as much.

A first footnote. We are probably now in a period of consolidation following the massive expansion between 2000 and 2015.

A second footnote, this one from the pinkun, that is to say the Financial Times. More consolidation.

References

Reference 1: Debt and decisions: what lies ahead for John Lewis: The mutual’s unusual partnership structure is celebrated but it limits room for financial manoeuvre - Laura Onita, Financial Times - 2023.