John Lewis currently verified all eight retail web-sites announced in July as at-danger of closure will now never ever reopen.

The closures include John Lewis’s Grand Central department retail outlet in the heart of Birmingham, which has been shut considering that lockdown.

The retailer said the impacted stores had presently been financially challenged prior to the pandemic and that the change to on line browsing for the duration of coronavirus meant the retailers would not be commercially practical in the future.

The business reported it would get the job done with workers to find new roles wherever attainable.

In a assertion, John Lewis reported: “This is a quite unfortunate event and one we never ever believed was conceivable when we initial opened these retailers.

“Our expectation was that we would trade in these spots for lots of decades to occur, but they had been financially challenged before the pandemic and we have not been capable to find a way that would allow us to turn that all around.

“We are grateful to individuals who have expressed their support considering that asserting the proposed closure past month, and for the incredible professionalism our partners have revealed – they keep on being our complete precedence and will be fully supported over the coming months.”

John Lewis’s Grand Central division store in the coronary heart of Birmingham is a certain blow.

West Midlands mayor Andy Road stated: “A sad piece of news that is to do with John Lewis in central Birmingham.

“We had been contacted yesterday by them and they have in fact confirmed to their staff members that the proposal to near the central Birmingham store has come to be a fact and it will not now reopen.

“That is regardless of myself, (leader of Birmingham Town Council) Ian Ward and (main executive of the West Midlands Growth Firm) Neil Rami getting satisfied with them and set forward what we think ended up incredibly practical alternatives which they have selected not to acknowledge.”

Avenue, a previous controlling director of John Lewis, experienced been urging the chain to reverse what he identified as the “dreadful mistake” of closing its Grand Central branch, considering that the proposal was announced at the stop of July.

The merchants closing are Croydon, Watford, Heathrow Terminal Two, St Pancras International, Birmingham, Swindon, Tamworth and Newbury.