M&S to open 10 new stores as part of convenience drive
Marks & Spencer is set to invest into its £1bn convenience business, with the retailer lining up the opening of 10 new stores in 2024.
The retailer will also ‘renew’ a further 50 convenience stores this year.
M&S said that by the end of the year it will be present in over 40 UK train stations, including at Ealing Broadway, where it opened last month, and in Belfast, where it will open in October.
This comes as the retailer reopens its Liverpool Street Station Mezzanine store, the first ever M&S convenience store at a mainline railway station, which has been renewed in partnership with SSP.
The store has been updated with an additional entrance, revamped chilled and floral sections, as well as the addition of freshly baked bakery products. New payment points have also been introduced, with additional self-service tills installed to reduce customer waiting times.
First opened in November 2001, the Liverpool Street Mezzanine store remains an example of the M&S’s partnership with SSP. The group specialises in running travel food and drink outlets and currently runs 55 franchised M&S convenience stores across rail and air locations, as well as in some hospitals.
Alex Freudmann, managing director of M&S Food, said: “Our renewal programme is all about making sure we have the right stores in the right place and with the right space and this applies to our convenience stores as well. These stores offer the perfect range for customers on the move looking for sandwiches, salads and snacks to eat now, as well as meals for dinner, such as our infamous Dine In offers.
“The convenience channel complements our wider business and provides a halo effect so it’s important that customers have the same fantastic shopping experience. The new renewal format for our convenience stores maximises these small spaces to deliver the M&S Foodhall experience for the missions our customers are shopping for as they travel. By renewing and growing our convenience estate, we’ll continue to deliver for our customers however, whenever and wherever they want to shop with us.”