Waitrose to unveil new store concept in North London
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Waitrose is set to unveil its new store concept as it reopens its North London store in the former John Barnes department store.
The store – located on Finchley Road – will open later this month and include a host of new features such as an updated refrigeration system, a new look bakery, and the first fully-chilled beer, wine, and spirits department.
Other features will include a baguette station, a hot chicken and salad counter, a dedicated parmesan bay, and hot wok counter – a first for a Waitrose store.
The revamped store is set to act as a trial for its new concepts, and follows the opening of Waitrose’s store in Sudbury, Suffolk earlier this year, which has already been testing a new store format.
The opening forms part of a wider £1bn investment from the John Lewis Partnership, which owns Waitrose, to refurbish 80 of its supermarkets.
The former John Barnes department store reopened as ‘Waitrose John Barnes’ in 1981.
Earlier this year, M&G reached an agreement with the John Lewis Partnership for the sale-and-leaseback of 11 Waitrose stores in a deal worth £125m.