Part of the landmark department store at Touchwood Shopping Centre is being reconfigured ready for the opening of a new restaurant
Pictured: Touchwood shopping centre in Solihull (Image: Darren Quinton / Birmingham Mail )
Work has started to reconfigure part of Solihull’s landmark John Lewis store to make room for a new Mediterranean restaurant.
The huge department store occupies the largest unit at Touchwood Shopping Centre, with fashion, technology, beauty, homeware and more spread out across three floors.
There’s also an own-brand Place to Eat café on the first floor, with seating for 300 people spanning a balcony overlooking the mall.
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Shoppers may have noticed that an area of the store, behind the kitchen section, has recently been walled off with signs of a new project under way behind the scenes.
Ori Caffe will be be opening soon inside the John Lewis branch, offering an ‘authentic Mediterranean-style menu’ for breakfast, lunch and afternoon dining.
A new restaurant, Ori Caffe, is opening inside John Lewis in Solihull(Image: Emily Chaplin/BirminghamLive)
Expected to open in May, its offering will include fresh artisan sandwiches, cakes, coffee and prosecco cocktails.
The brand already operates eight cafes inside John Lewis branches across the UK, including at Bluewater, Milton Keynes, Reading, Nottingham, Newcastle, Bristol, Cambridge and High Wycombe.
Bosses first hinted at the new opening back in March, when a post on the café’s social media announced: “We are adding another Ori Caffe to the family! The secret is out… coming soon! #newstore #midlands #newcoffeeshop”
The location was later confirmed in a follow-up post, which said: “West Midlands [waving emoji] We’re coming to Solihull.”
Ori Caffe is ‘opening soon'(Image: Emily Chaplin/BirminghamLive)
The coffee shop chain shared last week that the branch, ‘soon to be Solihull’s favourite café’, would be ‘opening soon’ with a refurbishment currently ongoing.
John Lewis confirmed that its Place to Eat café would remain open after Ori’s launch.
Amanda Dammers, head of branch at John Lewis Solihull, said: “Customers can look forward to the opening of the Ori Caffe in May, which will offer a fresh array of delicious pastries, sandwiches and coffees to enjoy, in the perfect surroundings to relax and recharge.”