This week, with the reopening of its Foodhall in Clapham South, Marks and Spencer has announced a second round of investment in London for the years ahead. Following a strong year of store openings in the capital in 2024, M&S will invest £90million to open seventeen new and improved stores across this and next year. The pipeline of stores is set to create 450 new jobs in the capital from zones 1 to 6.
The investment builds on the £50million in stores across the Northwest of England shared last month and is another step forward in M&S’s store renewal and rotation programme, focussed on having the right stores in the right places and is a key strand in the business’s transformation as it reshapes for growth.
At its half-year results, M&S announced that its store rotation programme is picking up pace as new and renewed stores are trading well, with relocations of Full Line stores more productive and renewal stores able to offer a full M&S Food range.
New stores
Brand new Foodhalls in Covent Garden, Leytonstone, Clapham Common, Putney, New Malden and Fulham Broadway are set to open over the next few years, pending planning permission. The new Foodhalls and extensions will add over 70,000sqft to the retailer’s London stores, bringing the best of the renewed store formats to customers.
The store in Clapham South has been renewed with a fresh look including a revamped produce section with a wider selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, ambient and frozen sections twice the size and a larger bakery. The store has also been upgraded with new flooring, fridges and additional tills for improved convenience to customers looking for a speedy checkout. M&S is renewing stores to bring the best of its Food and Clothing and Home ranges to customers, but also to deliver on its Plan A commitments: renewed stores utilise the latest technology to run more energy efficient stores with LED lighting, natural refrigerant fridges and freezers. The renewal is anticipated to achieve a 60% emission reduction.
Renewed stores
In addition to the new stores, seven existing Foodhalls in Brooklands, Islington, Brent Cross, Whetstone, Wimbledon, Chiswick, Clapham South which reopened this week, are being renewed. Three further train station stores have been given a fresh look and reopened recently in Euston, St Pancras and Charring Cross.
All stores will feature the latest in-store designs to bring more of the M&S Food range to customers with market-style fruit and veg, large bakeries with fresh coffee to go and Click and Collect counters for orders from the wider Clothing and Home range on M&S.com.
Wimbledon and Chiswick Foodhalls are performing well and so will be extended to bring wider selections of M&S Food to customers including brand-new bakery offerings a selection of fresh breads and pastries baked throughout the day, as well as offering takeaway hot drinks, including barista-made coffee such as M&S’ famous Magic Coffee.
M&S also plans to renew its full line Pantheon store on Oxford Street to bring customers in Central London the latest innovations, bringing the store up to standard as part of the rotation and renewal programme. The renewal will take place in stages, so the store can remain open, and works will start on the Foodhall in the basement on 22 April. A temporary Food offer will be open in store while the renewal takes place. Once complete, the Foodhall will bring Londoners a fresh pizza counter, Hot Chicken, and the brand-new coffee shop concept along with a fresh look and feel. The Foodhall is expected to open in late summer, at which point the remaining stages of the renewal works will start in Clothing and Home.
The retailer has over 100 stores across the capital and has been serving customers since 1903 when it opened its Brixton store, which reopened with a brand-new look last year. M&S’ food market share in London (4.5%) is higher than other cities in the UK. Whether it’s a full family shop, food-on-the-go, or dinner for tonight, M&S’ variety of store formats in the capital cater to customers across all their shopping missions. Today’s investment will enable the retailer to reach even more customers across the capital to deliver a bigger, better and fresher shopping experience.
Sacha Berendji, operations director at M&S, said: “London has always been a special place for M&S, growing from penny bazaars in the early 20th century into fresh Foodhalls like the one in Brixton we reopened last year. We serve thousands of customers in the capital across our full line offering in larger stores on Oxford Street, which are soon to be redeveloped, to food on the move in train stations and we are always looking at what we can do next. Our pipeline of stores demonstrates our continued investment in London, and we will continue to bring the very best of M&S to customers from Brixton to Barnet for years to come.”
All new store plans are subject to planning permission.
