MARKS and Spencer has revealed the exact date it will close a “delightful” branch for good.
The posh shop has 405 stores across the country and is a staple of the high street.
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Last year, M&S revealed that it would permanently shut ten stores and relocate more shops.
It’s part of the retailer’s plans to create more flagship M&S stores and food halls across the UK.
The M&S home store in Kingsditch Trading Estate in Tewkesbury Road, Cheltenham, is among the stores that are set to close.
It has now been revealed that the shop will close for the final time on Saturday, March 30.
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The Foodhall, which is also located on the trading estate, will close in the summer but an exact date is yet to be confirmed.
M&S said worked from the Home store will be moved to work in its town centre store before joining the Foodhall team once its open.
Shoppers have taken to social media to share their sadness over the decision to close the shop M&S stores in just a few days time.
One Facebook user said: “It is a great loss to Cheltenham.”
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Another wrote: “Another shop to close. Really hope someone else takes the lease on.”
A third cried: “Will so miss the cafe. It was always busy and such lovely helpful staff and always so clean.”
While a fourth added: “Disappointing news. Use the Home store regularly (usually for coffee)!”
But it’s not all bad news for shoppers, because M&S is set to open a new Foodhall at the Centrum Retail Park in Cheltenham in summer 2025.
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M&S is also set to close its branches in Aberdeen, Peterborough and Sunderland.
Its store in the Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough, is due to close in April, but a final date will be determined after a consultation.
M&S is then closing the much-loved department store on Aberdeen‘s St Nicholas Street in the city centre.
However, the branch is set to close down which has left shoppers gutted.
It will shut its doors for a final time in 2025.
M&S is also consulting on closing its Sunderland store, which is located on High Street West.
An exact date for the store’s closure is yet to be confirmed because a concrete decision on the store’s future is yet to be finalised.
The chain is considering closing its store in the Exchange shopping centre, Ilford, London, and broke the news to staff last week.
M&S is also pulling down the shutters on its branch in Neath, Wales, in May in a blow for locals.
Meanwhile, the chain is gearing up to close its branch at The Broadway Hallings in Bradford, although a closure date has not yet been set.
And its Hexham shop in Northumberland has also been marked for closure.
Each closure will make way for brand new and larger M&S stores.
Full list of upcoming M&S closures
M&S is set to shut dozens of stores, with some closures happening within the next few weeks.
In the vast majority of cases, each closure will make way for brand-new and larger M&S stores. Below is a list of upcoming M&S closures:
- St Nicholas Street, Aberdeen
- Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough
- High Street West, Sunderland
- Exchange shopping centre, Ilford
- Green Street, Neath
- The Broadway Hallings, Bradford
- Maiden’s Walk, Hexham, Northumberland
Edinburgh, Dundee, Largs and Linlithgow will also be getting new or expanded M&S stores within the next year.
The full list of M&S closures that have taken place so far are:
- East Kilbride – February 2023
- Fenchurch Street, London – March 2023
- Meadowbank Retail Park in Edinburgh – April 2023
- Castleford – April 2023
- Bolton – April 2023
- Cardiff – April 2023
- Manchester – August 2023
- Swindon – October 2023
- Birmingham city centre – November 2023
- Barnsley’s town centre – November 2023
Cities like Leeds and Liverpool have already become home to new M&S stores.
Nine openings in November included six new stores plus three store renewals.
M&S is moving from having 247 stores to 180, but it says that these remaining locations will be higher quality, higher productivity stores and stock a wider range, including clothing, home, and food.
It also plans to open over 100 bigger Foodhall sites by 2028.
M&S plans to operate 180 full-line (which include clothing, home and food) and 400 food halls in the next five years.
The new openings will bring investment in new stores to £480million, M&S said in May last year.
Which other retailers are closing stores?
Supermarket chains such as Lidl, Tesco and Iceland have been closing stores since the start of 2023.
Meanwhile, retailers such as Poundstretcher, Argos and House of Fraser have been shuttering single stores too.
This is because chains will often close branches as they open others as part of a balancing act to maintain their portfolios.
Major names such as Wilko, Paperchase and The Body Shop have crashed into administration since last year as well, shutting hundreds of branches between them.
In June last year, Boots said it would massively consolidate its portfolio of 2,200 stores to 1,900.
The pharmacy chain said it would shut stores where there was another one nearby.
However, as is the case with Mountain Warehouse, it’s not all bad news for the high street – a number of retailers are expanding.
Asda has been opening hundreds of convenience stores in recent months as it looks to increase its presence across the UK.
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Primark is also opening new branches and investing and renovating more than a dozen of its existing shops.
Meanwhile, Wilko has made a comeback on the high street, opening stores in Plymouth, Luton and Exeter before the end of last year.
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