Marks & Spencer to quit town centre stores with 67 closures planned in major shake-up

The company announced earlier this month that it is accelerating a major shake-up of its stores estate which will result in the closure of 67 larger shops.

In 2019, M&S confirmed long-term plans to axe 110 stores as part of a sweeping overhaul under previous boss Steve Rowe.

In a presentation to investors this month, the retail giant has said there are a remaining 67 “lower productivity, full line stores” it will close over the next five financial years.

It added that the company will now seek to speed up this transformation plan with an aim of completing the stores shake-up over three years.

The move will also see the retailer open 104 more Simply Food outlets over the same period, with many expected to reopen in the same area or location as sites earmarked for closure.

Work is currently taking place at its supermarket in Moortown in Leeds as part of a major refurbishment due to be completed early next month.

M&S has not detailed which locations or how many jobs will be affected by the wider national closure plans.

But as part of the ongoing strategy, it was announced in June this year that the existing M&S store in Barnsley town centre was to be closed with a new food hall to replace the Queen Street shop opening instead at the town's Peel Retail Park early next year.

In a new interview with the Financial Times, Sacha Berendji, group property, store development and IT director, cited the success of a similar move in Chesterfield in an explanation of the strategy.

“We’ve gone from a [town centre] store with no great access to parking to an edge-of-town retail park and a square box.”

Mr Berendji said there is “opportunity in the market” from the collapse of rivals such as Debenhams freeing up retail space and landlords being more willing to reducing rents and renegotiating terms following the impact of the pandemic.

M&S currently has 247 full-line stores selling clothing, homeware and food and says there have been significant improvements at relocated stores in terms of profits and turnover. A recent investor presentation was told there had been a 75 per cent increase in food sales and 30 per cent rise in clothing purchases in Llandudno after a town centre store was closed and a retail park site opened in its place.

M&S already makes more sales from food than clothing, with the current strategy due to build on the trend and requiring larger out-of-town stores with free parking for customers.

He said he accepts leaving town centre stores often causes local controversy.

“I do accept that it’s always a tough decision to leave and we are very mindful of the impact on the high street and the wider town,” said Mr Berendji.

“But there are towns where we wouldn’t be maximising the opportunity for our sales or giving consumers the opportunity to shop a better range with us.”

He adds that for all the focus on shifting out of town, the company “is and will remain in plenty of town centres” such as Liverpool and Birmingham, where the company has relocated to vacant former Debenhams stores.

“Where we are staying put, we are operating a really good renewal programme,” he said. “London Colney is a great example of that and we’re also doing a big renewal in [London suburb] Kingston,” he said.