150 new franchise and owned UK M&S Simply Food stores to open in the next three years
New franchise partnership with Relay France for Food stores in Paris
Marks & Spencer (M&S) today announced further details of its specialist food retailer strategy with the news of a significant expansion of its M&S Simply Food store network in the UK and a new franchise partnership with Relay France.
M&S will open an additional c.150 UK Simply Food stores over the next three years to further enhance its specialist food positioning and reduce drive times to access M&S Food – building on from the plan announced in November 2010.
Around half of the new stores will be c. 2,000 sq ft and operated with one of M&S’s existing key franchise partners in convenience locations such as motorway service areas, train stations, hospitals, petrol station forecourts and airports. M&S has Simply Food partnerships with BP, SSP and Moto operating 249 stores across the UK.
The other new stores will be M&S-owned, high street and retail park stores trading across 10 – 15,000 sq ft.
The UK plans will more than double the number of Simply Food stores M&S currently opens each year and will create over 5,000 new retail jobs.
M&S’s new French partnership will see the retailer and Relay France open around ten Marks & Spencer Food stores in and around Paris by 2018, with the first store opening in summer 2014. The stores will offer M&S’s fresh food catalogue and will be located at key railway stations, metro stations and airports.
There is the potential for further expansion into additional travel locations in the future. This autumn, M&S and BP opened four Food store pilots in the Netherlands.
Marc Bolland, M&S Chief Executive, said: “Our Food business has gone from strength to strength under our plans to transform M&S. We’ve delivered 15 quarters of like-for-like growth in the UK and have opened Food stores in cities like Amsterdam and Paris. We’re delighted to be partnering with Relay France to drive our international ambition even further.”
Steve Rowe, Executive Director of Food said: “Over the last three years we have reinforced M&S’s everyday specialist food market position through exceptional quality food, groundbreaking innovative products, and unrivalled ethics. We’ve brought this to life for our customers through inspirational Food Halls with specialist bakeries, delis and now florists. This offers us exciting opportunities to grow our business.
“Today, we are confirming plans to extend our unique Food offer to even more UK customers by opening c.150 new Simply Food stores in areas where we are currently significantly under represented. This franchise and owned expansion offers us an opportunity to continue to grow our customer base and business, building on the progress we have already made.”
A typical UK M&S Simply Food store stocks 6,000 food and drink lines and has a bakery and M&S Cafe. New stores opening in the next 12 months include: Evesham, Woodley (Reading), Leigh (Greater Manchester), Cramlington (Northumberland), Waterlooville (Hampshire), Berkhamsted (Hertfordshire) and Gosforth (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne).
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Further information:
M&S Corporate Press Office 0208 718 1919
Notes to Editors
About Marks & Spencer
- Marks & Spencer is one of the UK’s leading retailers. M&S sells high quality, great value clothing and home products as well as outstanding quality food. 20 million customers visit its stores each week and M&S has over 82,000 employees across the globe.
- M&S was founded over 129 years ago and currently has over 770 UK stores and over 430 international stores across 53 territories in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
- For more information please visit http://corporate.marksandspencer.com
UK Simply Food Stores
- The first UK M&S Simply Food stores were opened at Surbiton and Twickenham in July 2001.
- Over the last 12 years M&S has opened over 400 more stores and there are currently now 427 M&S Simply Food stores in the UK, (178 M&S-owned and 249 operated with a franchise partner), accounting for 34 per cent of M&S food sales.
International Food Stores
- The new French stores will offer customers convenient access to a range of up to 2,500 exceptional quality, fresh M&S food products.
- Offering its standalone food stores at convenient travel locations will help M&S continue to grow its business in France and take its customer engagement to another level.
- The partnership is part of M&S’s international strategy to open franchise Marks & Spencer Food stores in Western Europe. This autumn M&S opened its first four Marks & Spencer Food pilots at BP retail sites in the Netherlands, with a further two pilots to roll out by November 2013.
About Relay
- Operating more than 850 points of sales in national railway stations, airports, metro stations and hospitals, Relay France, a subsidiary of Lagardère Services, is a major player in national travel retail.
- The preferred partner of press and book publishers, Relay France is also developing an important network of convenience and fast food points of sale for travellers.