the flagship rooftop destination

Transform John Lewis’ flagship Oxford Street store for its 150th anniversary with an experiential activation to appeal to the new ‘time-short urbanite’ audience.

Insight showed that John Lewis’ resonance amongst 25–45-year-olds was waning, with sexier stores winning millennial attention and share of wallet. John Lewis’ 150th anniversary was the opportunity for an experiential agency to re-position the Oxford Street store as THE flagship for younger urbanite consumers — with new restaurants, updated showcase spaces throughout the store, and even the potential for a rooftop activation.

To tap into the millennial, urban wilding trend with the ultimate, summer, rooftop garden. As John Lewis’ experiential events agency, we worked with a Triple RHS & Chelsea Gold medal-winning landscape designer to create the space and partnered with Michelin Star chefs and vendors including Background Bars, Rossopomodoro, Joe & The Juice and Hotel Chocolat. To drive brand engagement, the space hosted 40+ John Lewis stocked brands, delivering events from beauty mornings and yoga practices to tech immersion and World Cup screening events.

While originally designed as a temporary pop-up, the footfall and sales uplift-driven made the roof space into a permanent fixture, with an ongoing calendar of events & pop-up restaurants. As an additional bonus — 3 infamous John Lewis Christmas campaigns were brought to life in the winter creating a magical, rooftop-wonderland brand experience.

“Creating a legacy for Partners and customers that we are immensely proud of. The team has a deep understanding of our brand and consumer so were able to create a celebratory event programme over the (1st) Summer period that helped contribute to an uplift of 8.6% over the campaign period. We look forward to seeing our Rooftop Garden evolve over time and grow into one of London’s top destinations.”
Rachel Swift,
JOHN LEWIS Head of Marketing, Brand & Social