OPENING TODAY!!!!!!!! Basingstoke John Lewis at Home and Waitrose

Basingstoke John Lewis at Home and Waitrose opens TODAY at 9am!!!

I was incredibly lucky to be invited back to see the new John Lewis at Home and Waitrose stores a couple of days before they opened to the public. (I guess they liked my review last month! lol)

It was REALLY awesome to be able to see how much had changed since I was last there, just under a month ago. It’s an incredible feat to think that just a month ago the stores were literally building sites. They have had 120 people setting up the John Lewis at home store alone!

John Lewis at Home – Downstairs

Trevor, the Implementation Project Manager for John Lewis at Home, showed us around the John Lewis part of the building.

90% of the store was “checked and signed off” ready for store opening on Monday!!! Four days before the store opens to the public!

The Kitchen Appliance area was FAB!!! I did my very best not to lust over the KitchenAid’s! lol. (Who knew, I would one day covet a KitchenAid! How times change! lol).

The Christmas section is brilliant!!! They have a huge area dedicated to gifts, so if there is someone who might be difficult to buy for, this is the area for you!

The Nursery Advice section is really lovely. It’s in a quiet corner of the shop and they have a seating area for you to use whilst in this area. I could have browsed this section for HOURS! They even have a “testing” car seat for demonstrations!

The Basingstoke John Lewis at Home store is the biggest at home store in the UK.

Towards the front of the store is the Beauty area. There will be Liz Earle, L’Ocitane and someone else I didn’t quite catch! There will also be a consultation area for the Beauty section.

There are also Large Electricals, Refrigeration, Linens, Duvets and Towels sections, and loads of other areas I didn’t have time to make a note of!

John Lewis at Home – Upstairs

Upstairs in John Lewis at Home is all about Lifestyle. There are sections for everything to do with your home, including room sets, kitchen sets, a fabric gallery (see one of the pictures below), a sofa studio, travel goods and a HUGE consumer electronics corner including sonos technology.

Customers can choose from an edited selection of 16,000 products across furniture, furnishing accessories, homeware, technology and nursery departments in-store, and use iPad terminals to shop the retailer’s full assortment online.

I also loved the mattress area at the back of the store on the 1st level. Its a very relaxing area.

The lighting section is gorgeous!

There is a whole area where you can choose which furnishing you would like a choose from racks and racks of fabric.

There is even a consultation area where the John Lewis at home team can help you with planning what you want/need!

Waitrose

Jamie Rodgers, the branch manager of Waitrose Basingstoke, showed us around the Waitrose store.

The cafe upstairs is AMAZING!!! It’s the largest cafe that Waitrose have! When I saw it last it was a dark building site. It literally was a shock when I saw it this time.

It’s HUGE and soooo light and bright!! I love the little areas that they have. They have a quiet area for relaxing in and little cubby areas. They even have a window into the kitchen so you can see your meals being prepared!

Downstairs the store itself is MASSIVE! It’s much bigger than I expected. It has over 20,000 product lines! Last month it was a complete building site and it’s really quite amazing how different it is to when I saw it last.

I am soooo looking forward to seeing the Juice Bar and Wine Bar in action! 😀 I’m particularly looking forward to the wine bar as you can enjoy tapas and wines from Waitroses’ award-winning collection!!!

I also can’t WAIT to see the atrium when it’s finished. It’s a huge area and you can see it’s so bright and with a great view across the town. Sooo excited!!!

Branch managers Ali Gilbert (John Lewis) and Jamie Rodgers (Waitrose) will cut the opening ribbon alongside the first Partner to be employed by each shop at 9am, and representatives from local organisations that both shops are supporting as part of their charitable Community Matters scheme: Ark Cancer Charity, Spotlight UK and Basingstoke NeighbourCare.

A couple of things to note

The subway to the stores will be closed for a couple more weeks so if you are walking to get to the stores then please use the pedestrian crossing that is near the Station or use the subway which takes you into Basing View.

There is free wi-fi in the stores.

John Lewis has a click and collect point and if you order your purchases online before 8pm, they will be in the store the following day before 2pm!

You can order anything from John Lewis, not just At Home, to be delivered into store.

There are two baby changing areas. One in each store.

There are at least 4 high chairs in the cafe upstairs.

Parking is at the back and on top of the stores. There are 450 parking spots, 15 of which are for parents and children. Parking is pay and display.

They say: “John Lewis at home and Waitrose Basingstoke brings John Lewis and Waitrose together in a unique way –  the two shops will share office space, a dining room and locker rooms. This joint venture allows customers to shop at both John Lewis at home and Waitrose in one trip, and ‘at home’ customers will have the benefit of Waitrose’s catering facilities.”

John Lewis at home will be open Monday to Saturday from 9am – 8pm and from 11am – 5pm on Sunday (10.30am as browsing time).

Waitrose will be open on Monday to Saturday from 7.30am – 9pm and from 11am – 5pm on Sunday (10.30am as browsing time). The café will be open Monday to Saturday 7.30am until 8pm and Sunday 10:30am – 4:30pm.

The shops are located at Basing View, Basingstoke, RG21 4BF.

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – you can receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow NorthHantsMum onTwitter,Google+,Facebook Page, Facebook Profile, LinkedIn and Feedly. I hope to see you there!