UK | M&S is opening three brand-new food stores, as it seeks to double the size of its Food business and attract more family shoppers.
A new 15,000 sq ft fresh market-style food store opened at Hatfield Oldings Corner, as well as a 16,000 sq ft Luton Bramingham location, set to be followed by an 18,600 sq ft store in Farnham.
The three openings have created over 200 new jobs combined and build on the more than 20 new and renewed stores that M&S has opened so far this financial year.
M&S has been working to double the size of its food business by expanding its store footprint and adding more products to existing locations, appealing to customers doing their weekly shop.
Each of the new stores will stock either all or the overwhelming majority of the full M&S Food catalogue, including its Remarkable Value range of everyday essentials, price benchmarked against key competitors but with M&S quality point of difference.
The family-friendly Bigger Pack Better Value range will also let customers tick off everything on their shopping list, including delicious food and home essentials such as toilet tissue, washing-up liquid, and dishwasher tablets. The Bigger Pack Better Value range was expanded by a third last year, bringing the total to over 100 products.
With the larger format Foodhalls, customers can now shop for some of the latest innovations from M&S, such as a hot chicken counter, an in-store bakery, and a coffee counter serving barista-made drinks and M&S’s popular cheese barge.
Both Luton and Farnham are among the former 12 Homebase sites that M&S is developing across the UK. The first of these, in Cannock, opened last December and, since launch, is triple the size of the former store. Food sales have more than doubled in the new store.
“We’re transforming M&S Food, and we want every store we have to offer the very best of the food range to our customers, from trusted value to exceptional quality and innovation," said Alex Freudmann, Managing Director at M&S Food.
"To do that, we are finding the right store locations with the right space across the UK that can allow us to offer the widest possible product range for customers and families. This month, we’re bringing M&S Food to three new towns, and we have a strong pipeline of new openings planned for the year ahead.”
Elsewhere, M&S’ latest renewal was at Westway Chelmsford, following an eight-week transformation to offer more products and an improved shopping experience.
M&S is looking for new, large sites across 500 locations in the UK that could stock the full range of M&S Food, growing the average size of its Food stores to 18,000 sq ft.
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