More than £3 million worth of stock is sitting in the new John Lewis at Home store waiting for Ashford shoppers to snap it up.

And snap it up they will, as the doors to the swanky new department store open at 9am tomorrow.

Hundreds of customers are expected to visit the 40,000 sq ft store, which is situated on Fougeres Way, between junction 9 of the M20 and the Drovers roundabout, in the next four days.

The two storey shop has 196 car parking spaces, 17,000 different lines, two till points, one on each floor, one customer lift and one set of customer toilets.

There is also a cafe, with 92 seats, which will serve coffee, cakes, pastries and hot food.

Customers will also be able to browse the John Lewis website at the in-store computer terminals and use the free click and collect service to buy products online and collect them at the branch the next day.

The multi-million pound store also has the biggest nursery department of any John Lewis at Home.

Other departments include electronics, fabric, carpet, furniture, kitchenware, beds and mattrasses and haberdashery.

Colleagues from John Lewis’ all over the UK have been helping prepare the new build for tomorrow’s official opening, with 55 of them staying at the Holiday Inn, in Canterbury Road, for the past week.

Project manager Gavin Smith, who has worked for John Lewis for 24 years, said: “We started putting the stock in the store last Monday, and within three days £3.1 million worth of products filled the shelves.

“We’re striving to be the best John Lewis at home store that has ever opened. Our colleagues have worked really hard and they’ve been having a fantastic time putting it all together. We are very proud.”

For the first four days of trading, a special car park management team is being brought in to help manage any traffic.

Mr Smith said: “We’re expecting it to be very busy, especially during the first four days. We have very loyal customers because we offer great value and we look after our customers.”

The opening of the Ashford John Lewis at home store, which is the 10th shop of its kind to open since the company opened its first homeware outlet in 2009, has also created 125 new job opportunities in the town.

Eighteen of these were filled by existing partners, and 107 people were recruited from Kent.

Glynis Gunning-Stevenson , who was appointed store manager in July, said: “We have employed colleagues from Ashford, Whitstable, Maidstone and even Margate.

Mrs Gunning-Stevenson added: “We know the Ashford area is already served well for fashion at the Outlet, and now we are offering a great assortment of home furnishings under one roof.”

The store will be open from 9am until 8pm from Monday to Friday; Saturday from 9am until 7pm and Sunday from 10.30am, for browsing, then 11am until 5pm.

For more go to www.johnlewis.com.

More in this week's Kentish Express.