Does John Lewis warning of closures mean department stores are doomed?

Changing shopping habits are hurting even the biggest brands, and fuelling redevelopment of unloved retail spaceSo it seems John Lewis is contemplating doing the unthinkable, with the middle classes’s favourite retailer hinting at store closures as it too is engulfed by the high street crisis.Department stores are in the frontline of the retail downturn: rival chains House of Fraser and Debenhams are hitting financial trouble as changing shopping habits move sales online, while the cost of