Changes are coming to an eatery at the John Lewis department store in Reading.
The store at the Heelas building in Broad Street currently has two eateries, the Ori Caffè on the ground floor and The Place to Eat on the first floor.
But a licensing application to Reading Borough Council indicates that changes are coming.
An application has been submitted for the sale of alcohol from 8am to 11pm by Benugo Ltd, a British catering company that operates high street cafes, restaurants, dining spaces inside public buildings and in-house corporate cafes.
The company currently runs the eateries at John Lewis in Oxford Street, London and the British Museum, among other locations.
John Lewis recently announced a partnership with Benugo to revamp 32 of its in-store restaurants.
The Reading branch is part of the first wave of transformations, with work scheduled to begin in the next few months.
A statutory consultation into the alcohol sales application is currently live.
You can respond by emailing licensing@reading.gov.uk. The consultation will close on Sunday, May 3.
Both the Ori Caffè and The Place to Eat are still open according to publicly available opening times.
According to a report in RetailWeek, Benugo will take over the The Place to Eat space in the store.
Representatives of John Lewis have been contacted for more information.
The number of department stores in Reading has declined since the closure of Debenhams in 2020 and House of Fraser in 2023.
John Lewis and Marks & Spencer remain, with similar offerings at TK Maxx, Next and Primark.
