John Lewis is planning to open up to 50 smaller home and electrical stores across Britain after it was forced to scale down ambitions to open at least half a dozen department stores over the next few years as property developers shelve regional shopping centres.

The department store group said on Wednesday that it had spotted “30 to 50 locations that would easily accommodate shops like this” as it unveiled plans for a 45,000 sq ft shop on a retail park near Poole, dorset, in October.