Marks & Spencer to open 250 new stores in 3 years

Marks & Spencer is pursuing an aggressive international growth strategy and is set to open 250 new stores in three years.

The plan is to grow its food business and increase franchise operations with the end goal of growing its international revenues by 25 percent and international profits by 40 percent.

“We are focusing on flagship stores to deliver brand presence and stand-out. We also see great opportunities in fresh food and lingerie and beauty concepts," Marc Bolland, M&S’s Chief Executive.

Steve Rowe, M&S Executive Director of Food, said M&S Food is in much demand globally - from toasted crumpets in The Hague to red wine in China.

M&S is targeting around 20 Marks & Spencer Food stores in the French capital over the next three years – which will see Paris become M&S’s largest food market outside of the UK. A new franchise partnership with SFH Invest was sealed to open Marks & Spencer Food stores at on-street locations in Paris. The first three stores under the new partnership will open this summer.

There are also plans to strengthen the brand's position in the Middle East through its long standing partnership with the Al Futtaim Group, which operates 46 M&S stores in the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman and Qatar, in addition to Malaysia and Singapore via its Robinsons subsidiary.

source: retailinasia