On a weekday afternoon, a certain kind of silence descends upon a department store café. Shopping bags slumped against chair legs, a half-eaten scone, somebody scrolling through a phone while their tea goes cold. For many years, that served as John Lewis’s “The Place To Eat“—a practical, unglamorous spot to put your feet between the electronics area and the bedding floor. It’s currently being disassembled, and it seems like the business is considering this to be much more than a menu update.
The Place To Eat will be replaced by a new own-brand concept called Platter John Lewis in 32 cafés, the retailer announced in mid-May. It is a component of a multi-year, £800 million investment in the brand, its retail locations, and the consumer experience. Oxford Street, Chichester, and Reading have already started renovations; the flagship on Oxford Street will reopen in early August following a thirteen-week makeover. All 32 will have the new name by the end of 2027. The lengthy timeline for what appears to be a food and drink rebrand raises questions about how much is actually at stake.
A hint is provided by the numbers. Over 20% of John Lewis’s in-store transactions now involve hospitality, and dining sales have increased by almost 10% in the last 12 months. For a company that made its name on school uniforms and washing machines, those are not insignificant numbers. As this develops, it’s difficult not to interpret it as an acknowledgement of something that most retailers are aware of but seldom publicly state: customers no longer visit physical stores as frequently as they once did, and when they do, they want a reason to stay. That’s because of food. You can purchase a sofa online. Halfway through a day out, a coffee break cannot.
It’s not just John Lewis doing this. The new eateries will be run in collaboration with Benugo, a Clerkenwell-based hospitality company started in 1998 by brothers Ben and Hugo Warner. In addition to its work at establishments like the Natural History Museum, the V&A, and BFI Southbank—places where people deliberately hang out—Benugo already operates cafés inside ten John Lewis stores. That ancestry is important. It implies that John Lewis wants its cafés to feel more like places you would visit on your own terms rather than like a retail afterthought. It’s still unclear if consumers truly notice that difference. A busy Saturday reveals the truth about branding’s many promises.
The retailer’s director of services and hospitality, Katie Papakonstantinou, framed it in terms of consumers spending more time in stores and food playing a larger role in that experience. The corporate language is fairly predictable. However, if you take a closer look, there’s a real strategic wager that the department store will continue to exist as a place to hang out rather than as a place to make purchases. For years, Selfridges has leaned into this. Therefore, have the superior farm shops and garden centers that subtly outperform their retail floor with their kitchens.
What Platter is holding onto is noteworthy. Customer favorites remain on the menu, and the benefits of being a My John Lewis member—such as free cake and hot beverages—survive the change. That particular detail seems intentional. You don’t destroy a forty-year-old brand and then run the risk of upsetting the devoted customers who really support it. This ambition is tinged with caution.
Will it be successful? Maybe. John Lewis has a ten-year relationship with Benugo to rely on, and the economics of in-store dining are actually getting better. However, the £800 million in stores, brand, and experience is a large wager, of which the café portion is just a small portion. The truth is that no one really knows yet, not even the analysts or the executives who unveiled renders of the Oxford Street flagship. It is evident that the company has determined that the kitchen is the key to the future of its stores. It’s a startling conclusion for a department store, and the next two years will determine if the gut feeling was correct.
