John Lewis Styles takes a new and tasteful turn

The new John Lewis Styles store situated on Waterloo Street immediately north of the Astor Cinema embodies the tasteful ambience that meets the demands of the contemporary fashion-conscious Guyanese shopper and the owner, a member of one of the city’s best-known business families, is entirely satisfied that he has begun a journey towards a long-cherished dream.

When last Stabroek Business spoke with John Lewis (Jr) we were inside his small cramped office, part of the premises of a cramped store offering attractive clothing and fashion accessories, ill-displayed inside a tiny space. At intervals during the interview he would return to his obsession with “more space,” finding business premises that would do justice to the kind of service he seeks to offer.

The new Waterloo Street premises is still a work in progress but even at this stage it matches in its tastiness the best that the city has to offer. All of the trading is currently being done on the ground floor of what will eventually be a two-storey building. The attractive external façade is complete but inside a construction crew is working like beavers to finish the second floor. When that is completed John Lewis Styles will comprise two floors, one for men’s clothing, the other for women’s clothing and accessories.

John Lewis (Jr) at his new Water Street Office

Not that the first floor which currently houses everything appears in the least bit crowded. There is a feeling of both depth and space to the inside and the clothing is assembled in the fashion of major department stores, items hung on display stands and sizes stacked on shelves close by.
In creating his new business premises the 32-year-old entrepreneur has, it seems, left nothing to chance. There are small but well-ordered fitting rooms, customer washrooms that appear elaborate by accustomed standards, a modest seating area with a television close by and magazines thrown in for good measure.

Though he declines to disclose the size of his investment, to say that it probably involves a few hundred million dollars would probably not be an exaggeration. He concedes that it is a huge risk taken by a young man whom, you would think, might favour a far less demanding life. That, however, appears to be his way.

John Lewis Styles

He appears, sometimes, to do little but peruse the internet and hard copies of the contemporary fashion magazines, seeking out potential imports. When we met with him this week he was thumbing through a copy of the Spring 2012 edition of the Levi Catalogue.

By his entrepreneurial style Lewis imposes a considerable amount of physical and mental pressure on himself. He appears to regard what he does as both a business pursuit and a personal preoccupation and he does not conceal the fact that he wants to be the best at what he does. That, it seems, is perhaps one of the primary reasons that he has invested in establishing his own premises, creating a facility that is to his own personal likeness.

Inside John Lewis Styles

It has been more work since November 1 when John Lewis Styles moved into its own premises. More space means more products, more choices, more effort and Lewis has a four-year-old girl who, like most children her age, is inclined not to approve of her father missing her sports day. He understands, though, that an undertaking such as his can sometimes exact a high price.

A customer-focused business outlook means that Lewis must navigate that path between product and price that simultaneously pleases his customers and sustains his enterprise. He does this by undertaking careful, detailed research into the international fashion market. Apart from the internet and the fashion catalogues he travels to the various buyers’ events thrice a year, meeting with manufacturers and middle men and seeking to strike deals that take equal account of price and quality.

Facebook has become a valuable marketing tool. John Lewis Styles has more than 10,000 Facebook fans and that is one way of reaching out to the market.

Lewis concedes that around 80 per cent of his clientele belong to the middle class; but disposable incomes vary anyway and the store offers customers value for money.

It may well be that Lewis’s investment is a reflection of entrepreneurial confidence in the country’s economy but that is not a point on which he dwells. He is more interested in explaining why when other young men of his age have opted to use this phase of their lives to “do the night club circuit” he has opted to immerse himself in business. He comes from a business family but even that does not entirely account for his disposition. He could have exercised the option of working with the family business but he did not. John Lewis Styles is about a personal desire, a drive for accomplishment that derives solely from personal effort. John Lewis is seeking to prove something to himself.