Northampton and Daventry on M&S wish list as major chain targets areas to open foodhalls
M&S has released a list of 500 target locations it is considering for an M&S Food store – and Northampton, Daventry and Towcester are among the named areas.
There are five place in Northamptonshire on the M&S wish list, including Kettering, Corby, Northampton, Daventry and Towcester – as well as in nearby Market Harborough.
The retail group is looking for ‘large sites’ that could stock the full range of M&S Food, growing the target size of its food stores to an average of 18,000sqft, aiming to double the size of its food business.
Alex Freudmann, managing director, M&S Food, said: “The strong performance of our new M&S Food stores gives us the confidence to explore even more locations across the UK, from Elgin to Exmouth.
"With more than twenty stores opening or modernised before the end of the financial year, we are moving faster. Our team want new sites where we could open a large M&S Food store as we deliver on our strategy to bring the right stores to the right places and offer the best shopping experience, range and availability for our customers.”
Northampton already has an M&S Foodhall in Sixfields and there is currently an ongoing planning dispute about a potential Foodhall at Riverside. The main M&S in Abington Street closed in 2018 and currently undergoing demolition to make way for flats and retail space.
Corby already has an M&S Foodhall in Courier Road. Kettering’s High Street M&S store closed in August 2018. There is an M&S and Foodhall at Rushden Lakes and a Foodhall in Wellingborough.
500 areas across the UK are on the new ‘potential location list’ that could help deliver the plan to modernise the M&S store estate to 180 full line stores and 420 food shops.
This summer M&S announced its acquisition of 12 Homebase sites which are set to become some of the largest M&S standalone Food stores in the UK – the first of which is set to open before Christmas in Cannock. A total of 20 new or renewed M&S stores are opening between November and March, creating 800 jobs.
All of the new stores would offer an extended range of M&S Food, wider aisles for bigger shopping trolleys and larger car parks for more family shoppers.