JTaylor

What a fantastic retailer!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21697603

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I think Waitrose and John Lewis are absolutely brilliant and their products are always top quality.

I was looking all Sunday evening on the Internet for some nice frames for Mothers day and the only ones I liked were from John Lewis. Super fast delivery too. The cutlery is also very good, maybe a bit more expensive, but at least it doesn't bend!

Last but not least, the free range eggs sold in Waitrose are absolutely delicious. A little more pricier than the usual supermarkets, but the quality is a different league.

dpb

Difficult imagine Waitrose stealing market share, I suppose we'll off people don't change their habits, 50%increase online sales means nothing really unless they're able to close some stores as a result?

John Lewis is good, I reckon people connect them with harrods

urban

iTrader: (1)

I don't think so.
I think its more of their customer service and general good attitude.

Graz

Much as they do win out in terms of customer service I do tend to find the prices of most John Lewis stuff can be bettered on the 'net unless it's something specific to them.

Used to like popping into Waitrose for weekend goodies on my way home from work on a Friday when I lived in Cheltenham. There isn't one close enough since I moved They seemed to have a very good positive discrimination policy of only employing attractive young girls to operate the checkouts too

moneys

iTrader: (5)

Yes but if you find something cheaper john lewis will price match ' never knowingly undersold'. I remember going in for a drier once and b an q was selling one the same but cheaper. The lady called b an q but couldn't get an answer. In the end she took our word for it an price matched. Also all the warranties are a million times better and usually free

paulr

Slighty bland, and can be expensive, but they do a great job of customer service. Spending money has never been easier.

zip106

Great shop.

Wife is on first name terms with, it seems, everyone in every department

hodgy0_2

sort of explodes the myth that the only way to achieve a profit is to run a low wage sweatshop outfit on the high street

where "talented" directors take home a fortune and pursue slash and burn labour policies, whilst the company inevitable hits the wall – owing millions and yet has managed to afford the vastly inflated salaries of the (totally inept) senior management team for the previous 5 years

give people a genuine stake and arguably more importantly a say, in how the company is run and you get better a result

like they do in, say, Germany, with a tradition of having the workers represented on the boards – but hey what the fvck to they know about running an economy

DYK

legb4rsk

I was just about to post the same.(not so eloquently)
Firms just don't get that if you invest in your staff & make them part of the success of the company they will repay you 10 fold.
The model in most companies is that all the profit flows upwards to fewer & fewer people.

They also have a fantastic scheme that helps fund staff with outside activities.Education,hobbies,sports etc.

One of the founders started the system to protect his sons.He realised that if you get too much un-earned income it leads to immorality.
I think we can see that this still holds true.

JTaylor

This was the reason I posted. I have so much respect for what John Lewis do.

hodgy0_2

I am afraid the economic “blitzkrieg” philosophy, as practised for the last 30 years, by the neo liberal economies of the world – principally the US and the UK, has totally, utterly and most importantly demonstrably failed

It has delivered economic prosperity and security to an ever diminishing % of the population and is based on a fundamentally false premise

And this will continue – inevitably

The really interesting thing (well i find it interesting) is that it is less about “policy” (in the left / right sense) , but one of “intent”

JTaylor

Yes, this is the point I tried to make here:

https://www.scoobynet.com/showpost.p...2&postcount=75

Greed isn't good, as it turns out.

TelBoy

Staff getting bonuses for doing a good job and helping their firm be successful?? Surely we need a law against this sort of thing?

Geezer

If John Lewis were a bank, you'd all be up in arms, regardless of whether they made a profit or a loss......

Geezer

JTaylor

You've both missed the point and I'm not going to explain how and why. I can't be bothered today.

TelBoy

I wasn't responding to any "point"

hodgy0_2

a rather obvious point is that, if John Lewis went bust (whether by paying large bonuses or otherwise) they would not recieve a very large government bailout

they would stay bust -- and someone (better than them) would take over

isn't that how capitalism is supposed to work

TelBoy

But at the risk of going round in circles AGAIN, why is it SO difficult for you to comprehend how cataclysmic it would have been if RBS etc had been allowed to fail that day? John Lewis going bust is one thing, the holder of a large proportion of the country's money quite another. I just don't get why conceptually you cannot get to grips with that. Have you ever actually thought it through? I doubt it, despite what you're about to post.

Geezer

To a degree yes, but the dispruption to the economy would be minor if they went bust.

I bet the bosses at the car industries get nice bonuses, and the government helped them out too. Don't see the papers full of that, however.

I'm not saying what the banks did was right, but they are just the pariah of the moment.

Geezer

hodgy0_2

yes i get the "too big to fail" argument - believe me i do



and I allued to it in my comment on a previous post

The really interesting thing (well i find it interesting) is that it is less about “policy” (in the left / right sense) , but one of “intent”

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

We were buying a Cooker from them, supplier cocked it up and they were great, cancelled it and sent us £30 of vouchers, they are the standard by which other retailers should be judge and proof that you shouldn't simply buy on price alone, Costco are another good one.

jonc

John Lewis are great and are endorsed by many MPs.

GC8

I had a shock in Cole Brothers (JLP) last week. Im looking for a replacement for the kit lens on my DSLR and was mooching around their counter.

Meadowhall Dixons (or whatever its branded as now) had the 55mm-200mm cheapie at about £190. Cole Brothers were asking £250! They spent a good while looking at the DSG website and came back stating that theres had an anti vibration VR feature which the DSG offering didnt. Incorrect, but not the end of the world as I believe that it was an honest mistake.

I looked on the internet and I can buy the lens for £130 new and boxed or for £100 in a white box (split from a two lens kit then sold separately), with Dixons retail price being as Id stated for the same model.

Having confirmed that the lens was £60 too dear I returned to Cole Brothers to find that the price was now £280 and only £10 less than the 33mm-300mm lens (priced correctly btw)!

Something very silly is going on. Ive just looked at the JLP website and it is now £350!!! This is the cheapest larger lens that Nikon offer but its now £7 dearer than the 300mm, which has also just increased in price by over £50.

Very disappointing.