Marks & Spencer has accelerated their plans for store churn, from five years to three years. The retailer aims to reduce the number of full-line M&S stores from 247 to 180, and increase the number of Simply Food stores from 316 to 420, by 2028. The plans have been influenced by rising online sales in the clothing category and the potential to move existing stores to more attractive locations near the original sites. Marks & Spencer chief executive Stuart Machin said: “We’re seeing strong performances from our recently relocated stores and this gives us the confidence to go faster in our rotation plans.”
Asda is set to open its first convenience stores under its new ‘Asda Express’ concept later this year. The two standalone stores will open at Sutton Coldfield on 8th November and London’s Tottenham Hale on 6th December, potentially the first of 32 sites the supermarket has planned to launch. The stores are owned and operated entirely by Asda, unlike its Asda On the Move sites on EG Group forecourts. The stores will also be separate from the 132 convenience stores that Asda is acquiring from the Co-op Group.
New World Trading Company plans to open between five and eight venues a year across its eight brand concepts, supported by a recently-announced rise in turnover. In the year to 31 March 2022, the business reported a 16% rise in turnover compared to pre-COVID levels. The company has opened sites across the UK under its concepts which include The Botanist, The Florist and The Oast House, with a second Chester site to open in 2023.
The London Property Alliance has released the findings of its latest Global Cities Survey, which compares economic recovery across London, New York, Paris, Berlin and Hong Kong. The survey reveals that London surpassed the other cities in Q2 across several key economic indicators, including foreign direct investment, office rents and employment. During this time, it also saw more investment projects from foreign investors than the other cities. However, the city’s unemployment rate was found to be the second highest of any UK region, due to “national and global financial uncertainty, rising inflation and climbing interest rates” which are likely to impact investment and development activity. Alexander Jan, chief economic advisor to London Property Alliance, said that attracting workers back into the City and Westminster will be key to maintaining momentum.