M&S plans smaller retail store at 80-year-old flagship outlet

Marks and Spencer group has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic as lockdowns have shuttered most of its clothing space

Marks and Spencer reported another big fall in sales of clothing and homeware in the Christmas quarter. File picture: Damian Coleman

British retailer Marks and Spencer has proposed a redevelopment of its flagship Marble Arch store in central London that would see the upper levels of the building made into office space, it has confirmed. 

Under the proposals, which M&S is seeking to consult with local stakeholders on, it would develop a smaller modernised full-line store on a site it has occupied since 1930.

M&S, which sells food, clothing, and homewares, currently trades from 160,000 sq ft at Marble Arch across five floors.

The proposals would see the building redeveloped into nine floors, with the lower two levels focused on retail and the upper levels made into prime, grade-A office space.

There would also be a new landscaped public area, including pedestrian routes through the site and a pocket-park.

M&S will submit its planning application later this year.

The plans are part of M&S’ Never the Same Again programme, under which it has been shifting gears in creating "a store estate fit for the future.

The group has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic as lockdowns have shuttered most of its clothing space. 

In January, the retailer reported another big fall in sales of clothing and homeware in the Christmas quarter amid the health restrictions but said that it was making progress. 

Its revenue in its clothing and home division slumped 25% in the 13 weeks to December 26, its fiscal third quarter, having fallen by over 21% in the previous quarter.

Food sales did, however, rise 2.2%, building on a 1.6% second-quarter increase. 

• Reuters