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Marks & Spencer (M&S) has announced plans to open a new 60,000sq ft store at British Land’s Giltbrook Retail Park in Nottingham in Summer 2020.
Up to 150 new and existing M&S staff will work at the new store in Nottingham, with recruitment in Spring 2020.
The announcement comes less than two weeks before M&S opens a major new store in Cornwall – its first clothing store in the south-west for 10 years.
Both stores are part of M&S’ ‘store transformation plan’, with the retailer ‘closing, relocating, opening and renewing stores to offer customers the very best experience – however, whenever, wherever they want to shop’. Alongside this, M&S is aiming to grow clothing online sales to a third of its total sales – supported by its network of over 1,000 stores, where 70% of online orders are already collected.
M&S said the new store is designed to appeal to its target of busy families. It said Giltbrook Retail Park was chosen because of its ‘free parking with 2,300 spaces and the right store and leisure facilities mix, including cafes, restaurants, major retailers and a children’s playground’. The branch will offer a wide range of food with a big focus on fresh produce, and clothing across all categories. It will complement M&S’ existing Nottingham town centre offering.
The location of the store is an area that M&S has been looking at for several years. Giltbrook Retail Park is accessible to customers in both Derby and Nottingham. These two areas have a combined population of 750,000 – the biggest population in the UK not served by an out-of-town M&S store.
M&S retail, operations and property director Sacha Berendji said: “Customers’ shopping habits are changing, so it’s important we change to reflect the way they want to shop – seamlessly integrating our in-store and online experiences. Excitingly, in Nottingham, reshaping our store estate means opening a big new store next Summer that can best serve our customer needs, alongside our High Street shop. Stores remain fundamental to how we serve customers and we can’t wait to open in this great location.”
