UK's John Lewis says department stores boss Ruis to step down

LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The John Lewis Partnership, Britain's largest employee-owned retailer, said on Monday that Peter Ruis, managing director of its department store business, will step down next month "to pursue new projects".

It said Ruis, who has been managing director of John Lewis department stores since 2024, will be replaced by Will Kernan, currently a non-executive board member of the partnership, as part of what it called "an orderly succession plan".

Ruis will remain with the business until September 6, with Kernan taking up the role in mid-September.

Kernan was previously the CEO of River Island, The White Company and Wiggle.

Jason Tarry, the partnership's chair, said Ruis "has done a fantastic job and will be missed by all of our Partners."

'REALLY TOUGH' TRADING CONDITIONS

Last week, the Financial Times reported that John Lewis had warned employees that the department store chain was facing "really tough" trading conditions.

It cited an interview given by Tarry to the partnership's internal magazine saying John Lewis was having to deal with an environment where it “will trade into lower sales and higher costs”.

The partnership, which also owns the upmarket Waitrose supermarket chain, is due to publish first-half results on September 10.

In March, it said it was cautious in its outlook for trading in 2026/27.

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by William James and Kate Holton)