Five locations in England are now offering mending, restoring, dry cleaning and more.
Customers are now invited to bring clothing, homeware and accessories to John Lewis stores in Oxford, Liverpool, Cheadle, Milton Keynes and Welwyn Garden City.
Launched yesterday, Monday 22nd July, the trial will see experts from Timpson Group facilitate a variety of repair jobs, in addition to alterations.
The move not only boosts access to ‘repair cafe‘ operations, but could increase visibility of the circular economy in general well beyond the chosen locations, raising awareness about the need to recycle and reuse domestic items rather than discarding and buying brand new. John Lewis, the UK’s sixth largest retailer on sales, will run the trial for the next 16 weeks in what it describes as a ‘test and learn approach’.
‘Our customers come to us for fashion and homeware that’s well made and will last – and this just takes that mentality and service one step further,’ said Kathleen Mitchell, John Lewis Commercial Director.
‘We want to help them extend the wear of their fashion items and have the option to bring those much-loved items back to life – whether they are hanging by a thread or just need a simple stitch or two,’ she continued. ‘Teaming a new, crisp white linen shirt with a pair of much-loved denim shorts gives our customers the opportunity to extend the lifetime of their favourite wardrobe staples, for years to come.’
Carbon, waste and water footprints of clothing can be reduced by up to 30% if life span is extended by just nine months. Earlier this month, the Scottish Government unanimously passed a new Circular Economy Bill. You can revisit Environment Journal‘s editorial on this, written by Scotland’s Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, Lorna Slater.
Demand for repair services is on the rise across the UK, too. According to research by Aviva, more than one-third of British households plan to increase reuse and repair as an alternative to buying new. This backs up John Lewis’ own customer surveys that showed lifetime guarantee offering repair or replacement is the most appealing added service sold with products.
‘We are really excited about working with John Lewis,’ said Will Lankston, Managing Director of Timpson Direct. ‘Alterations have always been one of the core parts of our business and we have been seeing this increase over the past few years as more customers are conscious about the environment and are wanting to repair and bring back to life some of their well loved garments and accessories.’
Image: John Lewis
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