John Lewis - retail entrepreneur
John Lewis came to London from a modest background in Somerset and founded the famous John Lewis Department Store on Oxford Street.
John Lewis was born in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, in 1836. He was orphaned at seven and brought up largely by his aunt, Ann Speed. At 14, he was apprenticed to a local draper in Wells and by the age of 20, had moved to London and began working in Peter Robinson’s shop on Oxford Circus. He soon became the youngest silk buyer in the capital.
He apparently turned down offer of partnership in that business, deciding instead in 1864 to start his own small drapers shop in Oxford Street, taking 16s 4d (82p) on his first day.
Lewis slowly expanded his business into neighbouring properties and diversified into a growing range of goods – everything from clothing to furniture to kitchen china. By 1895 he had rebuilt his original shop, which now had fronts on Oxford and Holles Streets, into a multi storey department store with retail showrooms as well as a warehouse and a restaurant for customers.
John Lewis’ trading policy was simple – a wide assortment, low margins, and fair dealing – and… he never advertised.
In 1884 that John Lewis married Eliza Baker, a teacher who had been one of the first women to attend Cambridge University. They had two sons, John Spedan Lewis, born in 1885, and Oswald, born in 1887. After their education at Westminster School, both boys followed their father into the family business.
More than 40 years after he opened his first shop in London, in 1905 Lewis acquired Peter Jones in Sloane Square. His sons, John Spedan Lewis and Oswald, became partners in the business in 1907. Oswald was later bought out but John, particularly while convalescing following a riding accident, began to think about how he could improve staff wages and working conditions.
The elder John Lewis was regarded as an autocratic employer and staff relations and retention were poor. However, eldest son John Spedan Lewis introduced the famous John Lewis Partnership when he took over the company, in which staff members hold shares and gain directly from the profits of the business.
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