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M&S Publishes 500-Location Shortlist as It Accelerates Food Store Expansion

The retailer is prioritizing larger sites to deliver 20 openings or renewals by April, creating about 800 jobs.

Overview

  • M&S named 500 target areas for potential new or renewed Food stores, with local lists emerging across regions including Bristol, Essex, Coventry and the North East.
  • An 83,000 sq ft flagship in Bath is scheduled to open on 4 February as part of this phase of 20 openings and modernisations by April.
  • The programme centres on larger-format Food halls, typically around 18,000–21,500+ sq ft on sites over two acres with 150-plus parking spaces in prominent, accessible locations.
  • Twelve former Homebase units are being converted into some of the largest standalone M&S Food stores, with the first opening in Cannock in December.
  • Plans aim for a future footprint of about 180 full-line stores and 420 dedicated Food stores, with more than half the estate set to adopt the renewal format within two years as the company continues recovery from a £324 million cyber attack.