MARKS and Spencer is set to open nine new shops this month and some are throwing their doors open for the first time within days.
It’s part of the posh retailer’s plan to dozens of new full-range stores and food halls this financial year.
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Cities like Leeds and Liverpool have already become home to new M&S stores this year.
But the nine openings in November include six new stores plus three store renewals totalling £80 million investment in bricks and mortar retail.
The new stores are located throughout the UK and will support over 2,200 local jobs as well as delivering significant environmental benefits.
Kicking off with a major new 65,000 square foot store in Birmingham’s Bullring, M&S will open at least one store every seven days throughout the month.
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The three new full-line stores opening this month are located in:
- Birmingham – November 7
- Lakeside – November 15
- Trafford Centre – November 30
The three new Foodhalls opening this month are located in:
- Uckfield – November 8
- Earlsfield – November 16
- Barnsley – November 28
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The three refurbished stores reopening this month are located in:
- Camberley – November 20
- Handforth – November 23
- Newcastle Foodhall – November 29
The openings are part of M&S’ aim to become the UK’s leading omnichannel retailer, with its store rotation programme at the centre of this ambition.
The retailer is aiming to rotate from a base of 247 stores to 180 higher quality, higher productivity full-line stores that sell its Clothing, Home and Food ranges, while also opening over 100 bigger, better food sites, by 2028.
Sacha Berendji, operations director at M&S said: “Stores are key to our business, and we see them as part of our competitive advantage. Increasing numbers of customers are heading back into 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.”
M&S will open new or refurbished stores in five more locations in the coming months:
- Wrexham – December 1
- Manchester Trafford Centre – winter 2023
- Largs – expected Spring 2024
- Dundee – expected Spring 2024
- Linlithgow – opens January 2024
Earlier this year, M&S revealed that it will permanently shut ten of its stores and relocate more shops this year.
The full list of M&S closures that have taken place so far this year can be seen below:
- East Kilbride – closed in February
- Fenchurch Street, London – March
- Meadowbank Retail Park in Edinburgh – April
- Castleford – April
- Bolton – April
- Cardiff – April
- Manchester – August
- Swindon – October
M&S plans to operate 180 full-line 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.
It will also be investing in its digital offering, with the rollout of click-and-collect to 130 stores across the UK.
Meanwhile, M&S isn’t the only retailer looking to expand.
Primark recently opened a new shop in Salisbury in September and completed a refurbishment on its store in Edinburgh’s Princes Street.
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Plus, bargain retailer Poundland has opened dozens of new sites.
M&S’ first Christmas advert has also arrived and it features well-known TV and movie stars.
