Lewis Gets Final Go Ahead

Lewis Get Go Ahead To Buy Beares & Ellerines

Last year, Lewis Stores announced their intention to purchase Beares and Ellerines (for something of a bargain from their struggling parent company). It has taken until this month for all the red tape by the regulatory and competition authorities to give the green light for the transaction to go ahead.

Building for the Future

Though Lewis themselves have been going through tough times with share prices being low and pressure from new legislation and investigations by the NCR making life interesting, they are still looking ahead to diversify and expand into a higher income client bracket. 3/4 of the 57 new stores acquired carry the Beares brand (the rest are Ellerines stores).

Higher Income Clients

It is hoped that with the acquisition of many Beares Stores , Lewis will be able to gain traction among higher income earners, who will be able to comply with more ease with recent changes to affordability assessments as per new legislation. Consumers applying for credit are now required to provide not only bank slips but also proof of recent income (eg. 3 months pay slips). Lewis recently reported little growth (1.1%) over the end of 2015 and this was attributed, in part, to challenges facing the lower to middle income earners who comprise most of their current clientele.