The British chain Marks and Spencer (M&S) announced yesterday that it would invest 480 million pounds (more than 540 million euros) to open 20 stores in the United Kingdom, as part of a plan which sees the disappearance of dozens of them. others. “This investment will generate more than 3,400 new jobs across the country,” the company said in a statement, which announced the acceleration in October of a plan to close “low productivity” stores, in particular. in town centres, and to open others, focusing in particular on food.
This “store rotation” strategy in the United Kingdom comes on the heels of a restructuring plan launched in 2020 during the pandemic and including 7,000 job cuts, itself following a strategy of modernization and closure of sites started a few years earlier. The brand had specified this fall that it wanted to close 67 generalist sites out of 247 and increase the number of food stores by a third, with 104 openings, adding that it wanted to complete this plan initially planned out of five within three years. M&S had previously closed 28 general stores and opened 15 grocery stores since March 2019, a spokesperson for the group told AFP. The group also announced at the end of 2021 the closure of more than half of its sites in France due to supply problems linked to Brexit.
“The retail sector is not really buoyant at the moment, so it is significant that Marks and Spencer has revealed an investment of hundreds of millions of pounds to open 20 new stores,” commented Russ Mould, analyst at AJ Bell. After good sales at Christmas, “it seems that Marks and Spencer has regained its mojo”, continues the analyst before qualifying: given the closures of general stores previously announced, “its presence in shopping centers and in city centers will be reduced.
The group appreciated by 2.71% in the followingnoon on the London Stock Exchange. “Our site rotation program is regarding making sure we have the right stores, in the right place, with the right space,” M&S Co-Chief Executive Stuart Machin said in the statement.
The group announced last week that it had achieved record sales at Christmas, welcoming a performance better than the average for the sector, driven in particular by a good performance in clothing and decoration, its weak points in recent years compared to food.
Source: AFP
The British chain Marks and Spencer (M&S) announced yesterday that it would invest 480 million pounds (more than 540 million euros) to open 20 stores in the United Kingdom, as part of a plan which sees the disappearance of dozens of them. others. “This investment will generate more than 3,400 new jobs across the country,” the company said in a statement.
