JL Food Hall - Disappointment of the year
17 April 2019
When visiting London, Oxford Street is a place where the best of the best are located, John Lewis, Selfridges etc. The retailers flagship stores and therefore, it should be a retailing mecca with displays, product and people to get you going wild in the aisles.
However the John Lewis food hall wasn't like this. It's a strange hybrid of Waitrose and John Lewis, in fact it's more Waitrose than John Lewis in the store itself.
Within the wider 'food hall' area; a fair amount of non-food / dinnerware etc and a plethora of Hotel Chocolat (et al) Easter based confectionery gifts adorn the aisles. But inside the "Food Hall" itself, it was all rather sterile.
Which was all rather nice.
However when entering the food hall, one expected more of a 'wow'. Certainly the last time I was in, it felt sharper and notably different to what one would expect to find in a Waitrose. However when looking at it this time, it felt half done, service wasn't quick enough for lunchtime, there wasn't any pace to the operation and the general 'to go' trade was poorly catered for in what is a hugely captive market.
If I consider the job that Dunnes have done with their St Stephen's Green store for example in the centre of Dublin, these are a world apart.
Not a great yardstick comparator at all; the general fit out of the store felt a bit low rent and this was surprising and it felt a bit limited in terms of proposition and quality almost.
A surprise given location and indeed, clientele and flagship status of the store. It is inherently unclear who is responsible for the design of the store as it feels a bit Waitrose in the approach but then other areas are quite unlike Waitrose. Indeed, the newer Waitrose stores are sharper than this one in any case.
So the proposition being confused leads to a wider confusion in message and to be frank, a confusion in 'reason for being'. What is the point of the food hall? If there were elements that I could get here that I couldn't get anywhere else, I didn't see them, they weren't presented to me either.
Misting Meat was noted and the counters island was out of the way, tucked over with fresh foods and entirely out of customer flow. Which rendered it a little irrelevant to be honest.
Olives were over by the food to go area and counter service but again, it wasn't obvious to customers around the 'square' / island of service and what to do. I observed a fair queue and no real 'buzz' here like I would expect.
This screened area was bizarre for example.
The salad bar was also in that it was a serve over offer but didn't feature any 'to go' solutions for customers (seemingly).
The service was slow and it wasn't the partners to blame really, the entire set up wasn't right for fast paced lunchtime trade that was building.
Most of the products in the Cake counter were essentially Waitrose products albeit displayed in a nicer way. Certainly the doughnuts were notably Waitrose ones.
This was somewhat of a disappointment as one would expect the business to have a 'go' in this location with something a bit different.
The collection / hamper / service / order area was attractively set up with Easter based displays and the 'concierge' idea is something that could be developed - especially around gluten free, dietary needs and other such missions (hosting a party e.g.)
However the ambience was let down somewhat by the signage / boxes that had been left in the area, which made it feel a bit 'out of bounds'.
As noted previously; the cake counter was questionable and lacking in ambition I felt, the Bakery was easily in the same bracket.
The minimalistic look didn't work (in terms of display kit, not stock) but the stock was hardly abundant either.
I grasp that customers may not want loaves and the like but a 'to go' section should evolve and better pastries and more variation should then develop...
It just felt a bit left out and lightweight.
Some more Cakes were noted in the chilled cabinet; these were all serve over via a partner which slowed things down further for customers at busier times.
Gail's Bakery loaves stood out well with the red packaging and naked Bread element, but the stock levels were minimalistic once again.
More could be done here, a little like in the rest of the store truth be told.
A strong herbs/spices/cooking range was noted near the store entrance, this was heavily Waitrose but demonstrated where the store should be aiming - IE offering a bit of 'difference' for customers and solving a 'need'.
However the Waitrose confectionery clearly hasn't sold with every single product reduced manually which denoted the best before date was rapidly approaching.
This perhaps said it all - shrinkage in focus so the Manuka higher priced Honey was under lock and key.... Understandable but not ideal for customers..........
Wines were given a bit of distinction and the raised platform for this range worked well, there were some dining elements included for customers too.
This is where the offer was differentiated nicely and it worked well.
However for the other elements in store, it was sorely lacking and to be honest, a surprise given the location of the store and the customer base.
More work needed on this Food Hall if it is to solve a problem for anyone, it just felt under-cooked and there was more to 'play with' for the respective businesses.
Definitely file that one under 'more that could be done'.
From the Grocery Insight newsletter archive, first sent to subscribers on 17 April 2019. Steve now writes at read.groceryinsight.com. See also the blog archive and briefings.