John Lewis essentially rings in the festive season every year with its iconic advert – but for Christmas 2025 the chain has unveiled more than just its traditional oft-nostalgic, oft-weepy commercial. One of the chain’s major stores has had a massive glow-up.
A brand new department has been unveiled at John Lewis’ Bluewater store in Kent, which has just reopened after a £10 million refurb. The Kent shop’s ‘Gifting Emporium’ is the first of its kind, offering customers literally thousands of ideas for presents right in time for Christmas. It’s part of a wider initiative from the department store to ‘turbo charge’ its reputation as the home of year-round gifting.
The Emporium at Bluewater is roughly the size of three tennis courts. It’s so large that it’s split into sections, each offering different treats based on a person’s hobbies or interests. Whether you’re buying for a foodie, a child, someone who loves their health and wellness, or a coworker you barely know; you’re sure to find something they’ll like.
If customers like the concept, emporiums could be rolled out in John Lewis stores across the UK.
Elsewhere in the store, the home and furniture department has been completely redone. Instead of selling individual items, chairs, tables, and decorations are now being grouped by style. There are five different designs on offer: Heritage, Modern Lux, Scandi, Rustic, and Timeless.
John Lewis is calling this a ‘shop by style’ approach, and hopes that it will enable customers to find pieces they love with more ease, as well as making it easy to create a cohesive look across the home.
The rest of the store has also had a makeover. The beauty hall has a new look and is now home to more premium brands including Fenty, Byredo, and Medik8, and a small Waterstones bookshop has also popped up on the ground floor. Both the men and women’s fashion sections have also been expanded.
Bluewater is only an hour or so’s drive from London. In other news about the shopping centre, it was recently awarded a major prize for its green initiatives, which you can read about here.
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