John Lewis store at West Quay in Southampton to reopen

It following the reopening of an initial 13 shops this week, as retailers begin welcoming shoppers back to stores.

The shops to reopen to customers on June 25 include the store at West Quay Shopping Centre in Southampton,

The other John Lewis department stores will be Cribbs Causeway, Leeds, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Peter Jones, Tunbridge Wells and York, the retail added.

Further announcements on reopenings will be made in the coming weeks, the employee-owned retailer said, and more customers will be allowed in stores following lessons learned from the stores already open.

In Portsmouth the company closed its Knight & Lee store in Southsea last year, but said in January that it was not looking to open a new shop in the city.

A spokeswoman for John Lewis said at the time: 'We had various discussions with the council and local MP Stephan Morgan, when we announced our plans and at the time of closure. We have had no further conversations since then.

'While we do always keep our estate under continuous review, we have no plans for other shops in this area.’

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on portsmouth.co.uk. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to portsmouth.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit our Subscription page now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.