How do you create memorable destinations within a supermarket environment that enhance the customer experience and bring the local community together?

Every year the arrival of the Christmas season also brings about the release of the infamous John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners adverts. This year, the Waitrose & Partners’ Rushden store refresh has also been completed just in time for the holiday season, bringing in new concepts that support and connect the Group’s brands and partnerships alongside the individual needs of the local community.

This store has been the largest we’ve supported Waitrose & Partners with in 2021, with a gross area of almost 82,000 sq.ft (and over 400 parking bays). Like any other Waitrose & Partners site project, our involvement starts with a thorough customer journey analysis and we then develop a refresh scheme to deploy the latest branding principles across every customer touchpoint, including the 'Better Together' area which integrates John Lewis & Partners products seamlessly into the store environment.

Waitrose design principles are constantly evolving to maintain an excellent customer experience within the stores. Rushden has many new developments designed by Waitrose' in-house Concept Team, and delivered alongside the core brand elements - allowing the new concepts to be trialled before wider rollout across the stores. This included new customer collection bays within the car park and different zones within the store such as the community room, cafe community wall and Sushi Daily counter.

This project has taken just over a year to complete. Throughout this time we have worked closely with the wider team, including main contractors, signage contractors and the store design team, as well as collaborating with the store’s sub-let brand, Timpsons.

At the end of a year of integrating John Lewis into the Waitrose environment in their 'Better Together' areas, we're reminded of how much BETTER this Christmas will be when we're TOGETHER with family and friends! We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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