Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Public voice support for campaign to save Aberdeen’s John Lewis store

Post Thumbnail

Thousands of members of the public have voiced their support for a campaign to keep the north’s last department store in Aberdeen.

Last week John Lewis announced it plans to close its store on George Street – the UK’s most northern outlet and the only one in Scotland outside the central belt.

It follows the closure of Debenhams, which has closed its stores in both Aberdeen and Inverness.

The announcement sparked outrage from shoppers and members of the public in the north-east, with thousands of people aiming to convince the retail giant to reconsider.

Two petitions have been set up, with a combined total of more than 25,000 people signing in support of the campaign.

Many also added comments sharing why they want the partnership to stay in the Granite City.

Chris Cusack described the store as “an important fixture in the city centre, and an essential part of its retail economy”, while Alison Murray claimed the region would be “bereft” if the closure goes ahead.

Dawn Allen said: “We desperately need to preserve the jobs and it is a three-hour drive to the next nearest store. Aberdeenshire needs John Lewis, not just the city itself.”

And Karen Young added: “I worked in John Lewis for years and it was the best store in town. I think this will be a terrible loss to Aberdeen and it breaks my heart that those amazing staff will no longer do the jobs they live and are committed to.”

A taskforce, including council chiefs and business leaders, held talks earlier this week with senior management at John Lewis.

The campaign to save the store has also been backed by candidates standing in Aberdeen Central in the upcoming Scottish Parliament election.

Scottish Labour candidate Barry Black, who set up one of the petitions calling for the closure decision to be reversed, said: “There is a mixture of anger and huge disappointment at the decision. This is the last department store in Aberdeen.

Scottish Labour candidate Barry Black.

“People do have confidence in the future of Aberdeen city centre but they see John Lewis as a huge part of that future. It’s the anchor of that side of the city centre, and there are a lot of retailers in George Street who have grave concerns because of the people it draws to that part of town.

“This is much bigger than Aberdeen city. To the public in Aberdeenshire, Moray, the Highlands and even Orkney and Shetland, it’s their local department store.”

Douglas Lumsden, the Scottish Conservative candidate, said: “I haven’t seen a public response like this for a long time. It just shows what this means to so many people, and it’s so important to the whole region.

“If it does go it will be a devastating loss to the whole city.”

Kevin Stewart of the SNP and: “I know from my mailbag and inbox that Aberdonians want John Lewis to stay in our city and I do hope that the John Lewis board will recognise this strength of feeling and agree to maintain a presence in our city.”