Marks and Spencer 2009 Annual Report Download - page 45

Extending our out-of-town stores
We have extended a number of out-of-town
stores allowing us to offer a greater selection
of products to our customers. Culverhouse
Cross in Cardiff, Brooklands and Tamworth
were all extended in the year.
Better presence in retail parks
We have been monitoring a growing trend
for customers to travel to retail parks where
they can park and shop at a leisurely pace.
In response we increased our presence
on retail parks in 2008/09 with three key
openings in Malvern, Aintree and Cardiff
Capital. Since the year-end, we have
opened in Swindon Orbital and Longwell
Green in Bath.
Investing in our High Street stores
We continually review our High Street stores
to ensure they are the right size and in the
right location.
In the last year we relocated in Wrexham
and Luton and consolidated two stores into
one at Worcester. We have modernised a
number of stores including Worthing and
King’s Lynn. We have also closed two under-
performing stores in Woking and Bracknell.
We will continue the process of flexing our
store portfolio in 2009/10 to ensure we give
our customers stores where they want them,
and at a size that accommodates a wide
variety of products.
Building on the success of Simply Food
We now have more than 300 wholly-owned
and franchised Simply Food stores in the UK.
We opened 13 standalone Simply Food
stores in 2008/09 in locations including
Epping and Dunblane. They join our franchise
‘travel hubs’ which continue to work well, as
reflected in Waitrose’s decision to enter this
space in partnership with Welcome Break.
We reached the 100-store milestone
with our BP service station franchise this
year and opened the successful M40
Beaconsfield services in March.
Hospitality
In everything we do, we strive to offer
something special – the M&S point of
difference. Our cafes and restaurants are no
exception, and during the year we broadened
our offer so that our customers can choose
from a coffee or a snack to a sit down meal.
This not only provides an enjoyable store
experience for our customers, but
encourages them to spend longer in our
stores. For many it also tempts them to try
new things that they can then pick up in our
food hall.
At the same time we are increasing other
in-store food options by introducing deli
counters, as well as improving our cheese
counters and in-store bakery. This builds
on our reputation for offering premium fresh
produce, and our commitment to provenance
– knowing where every ingredient in every
product has been sourced.
Looking ahead
Our long-term strategy remains in place.
We will continue to improve our retail space
by increasing and extending into new
locations and markets, as well as continuing
the refurbishment programme over the next
few years. But we will also continue reviewing
under-performing stores to ensure we are
working the portfolio to its fullest potential.
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FOCUS ON: PROPERTY
TOTAL UK PORTFOLIO OF 668 +46
PREMIERE 10 0
MAJOR 43 +3
RETAIL PARK 29 +2
HIGH STREET 209 -4
OUTLETS 39 +6
SIMPLY FOOD (wholly-owned) 156 -11
SIMPLY FOOD (franchises) 182 +50
125 YEARS OF QUALITY
Below: Westfield style Unveiled by Twiggy
and Erin O’Connor, our Westfield store includes
appetising new features such as a cheese shop
and Mediterranean deli.
125 YEARS OF SERVICE
Above: Fancy a cuppa? Our M&S Cafés form the
fourth largest take-away coffee chain on the High
Street, and have proven so popular that we now see
an opportunity to expand the floor-space devoted to
our M&S Cafés in many of our new developments.
125 YEARS OF TRUST
Below: Green design We have taken best practice
from our eco stores and are applying this to all our
new developments. Features include energy
efficient escalators and daylight sensors in our
window displays, which are being introduced in
80% of our new builds and remodels.