I've heard rumours that British department store John Lewis might come to Paris. Which is an interesting idea, as there's nowhere more British than John Lewis (except, perhaps, Marks & Spencer). Imagine Galeries Lafayette with a British accent. Many of the items it sells are marked with a Union Jack, to show that they were made in Britain. The store has a policy called «never knowingly undersold», which means that if you can find an item cheaper anywhere else, John Lewis will match the price. And employees are given equal shares in the business. Fair play, indeed.
John Lewis is cited as one the brands the British most admire in a survey called Moody Britain by McCann London. The other is Richard Branson's Virgin group (owner of Virgin Megastores). Apple and Google trail far behind. «The cheek and entrepreneurialism of Virgin, and quality, tradition and fairness of John Lewis resonate more with the British than technology», comments the agency. Interestingly, the survey of Britain's mood indicates that, despite current hard times, the British are cheering up: «The proportion of people citing the positive adjective “hopeful” has climbed by 127% to 25% since the research was last carried out in November 2010.» However, it also says they plan to spend less on food and travel. So if John Lewis comes to Paris, its customers won't all be British tourists.
