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In a television first BBC Two goes behind the scenes of John Lewis – one of Britain's biggest and best known department stores – as it tackles the worst recession for 80 years in Inside John Lewis.
The first episode looks at how the worst recession in the history of John Lewis takes its toll on the business. The half-yearly results send shock waves throughout the company.
This edition sees the steps that are being taken by the business to boost sales and control costs; the fashion floors are being revamped, an enormous new shop is being built in Wales, a brand new distribution centre has opened in Milton Keynes and to control costs, the old warehouse in Stevenage is closing down. Jobs are being lost and there is a pervading sense of unease in the corridors of the London Head Office.
Programme three looks to the future. John Lewis is expanding its fashion offering online and we learn what their customers are expecting from a brave new world of 21st-century shopping. The big question facing John Lewis is whether they can embrace this online world without compromising on what it considers to be the business's Holy Grail - personal and specialist service.
