M&S to invest £80m into “biggest ever” month of openings
Marks & Spencer is set to invest £80m into its “biggest ever” month of store openings, in a move which the retailer said will create over 2,200 jobs.
M&S will open nine stores in November, the highest number it has opened in a single month. This comprises six brand new stores and three store renewals.
Kicking off the openings is a new 65,000 sq ft store in Birmingham’s Bullring, with the retailer planning to open a new store every seven days throughout the month.
M&S will also be opening full line stores at Lakeside Shopping Centre, West Thurrock and the Trafford Centre, Manchester. The retailer will launch new food halls in Uckfield, Earlsfield, and Barnsley, with store renewals opening in Camberley, Handforth, and Newcastle.
The openings are part of M&S’s long-term plans to become the UK’s leading omnichannel retailer. It is looking to pivot its estate from 247 stores to 180 higher quality, higher productivity stores, whilst also opening 100 food sites by the 2027/28 financial year.
At the beginning of the year, M&S outlined a £500m investment into its store rotation programme, which has seen store relocations in Leeds White Rose and Liverpool ONE as well as a number of new food halls.
Sacha Berendji, M&S operations director: “Stores are key to our business, and we see them as part of our competitive advantage. Increasing numbers of customers are heading back in to stores to experience the best of M&S all under one roof, supported by outstanding service from our colleagues, and we expect this to continue as we head into Christmas. To deliver our biggest ever store opening month which supports thousands of jobs is an outstanding effort from the team and shows just how serious we are about accelerating our rotation plans so we are in the right locations for our customers.”