John Lewis injects £20m into Glasgow city centre store in wider branch reboot

The Buchanan Galleries in central Glasgow were until recently earmarked for demolition. Photograph: Andrew Steven Graham/Alamy View image in fullscreen The Buchanan Galleries in central Glasgow were until recently earmarked for demolition. Photograph: Andrew Steven Graham/Alamy John Lewis injects £20m into Glasgow city centre store in wider branch reboot Upgrade to Buchanan Galleries part of £50m spend this year and £800m by 2029 to revive appeal of department stores John Lewis is to spend £20m on a revamp of its Glasgow store in the city centre’s Buchanan Galleries in a vote of confidence in the shopping mall not long ago scheduled for demolition. It is the largest cash injection within a wider plan to spend £50m this financial year on refreshing its shops, with department stores in Reading, Cambridge, Leicester and Liverpool all earmarked for an upgrade. The Glasgow project includes expanding the beauty hall with a fragrance hall and gift emporium. The company said every corner of the 28,000 sq metre store would be upgraded, including a new John Lewis Platter in-house cafe-restaurant and more women’s and men’s fashion labels. The lower ground floor will be the first to be completed, with a technology and sports floor due to be in place by late September. The store will remain open throughout, with the refurbishment expected to finish early next year. The leader of Glasgow city council, Susan Aitken, said: “John Lewis has been one of the city centre’s key shopping attractions for almost 30 years and this huge vote of confidence in Glasgow’s retail sector will, I’m sure, guarantee it continues to be for at least another 30.” The refurbishment of the Buchanan Galleries’ flagship tenant comes after the mall’s owner, LandSec, won planning permission last year for a major overhaul of the 1990s shopping centre, having ditched proposals to demolish it to build offices in 2024. LandSec has bought up neighbouring buildings for the renovation plan, which will create new leisure and dining space, including a food hall, as well as new larger retail spaces on Buchanan Street. Other new developments in the city include the former Watt Brothers department store, a vacant historical building for which permission was recently granted for it to be converted into a hotel. Last year’s 850th anniversary for the city was seen as a moment to try to revive the centre, which has been hit hard by online shopping and the decline of some of its historical buildings , including the burned-out Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building and the Centre for Contemporary Arts, which permanently closed in January after serious concerns were raised about its finances. Earlier this year, services via Glasgow Central station were disrupted after a fire gutted a neighbouring Victorian building , and the centre is scarred with vacant sites, such as the former BHS, and stalled renovations. Glasgow Central station fire again shows vulnerability of city’s older buildings Read more John