M&S confirms exact date ‘wonderful’ branch will close in HOURS leaving shoppers crying ‘it will leave a void’
MARKS & Spencer has confirmed the exact date a “wonderful” branch will close within hours, as shoppers say it will “leave a void”.
The high street retailer said on March 15 it had plans to shut down the store in Ilford, East London, blaming the closure on changing shopping habits, but did not say when it would cease trading.
M&S said sales at the Ilford Exchange branch had been on a “consistent” decline, leading the company to look to a 2017 decision to “accelerate [the] store closure programme”.
The company has now revealed the store in Bessborough Road will close for good, later today on June 29.
A M&S spokesperson said: “Shopping habits are changing, so we’re rotating our store estate to make sure we have the right stores with the right space to offer the best possible shopping experience.
“Over the past two years alone, we have invested over £23million in our stores across Greater London and we are open to exploring suitable alternative sites in the wider area for a food hall.
“Thank you to all our customers who have shopped in the store over the years.
“We will keep serving you at our stores in Stratford City and South Woodford, convenience stores in Newbury Park and Wanstead – and of course online.”
The store in Westfield Stratford is now the nearest branch for residents in Ilford.
Shoppers really liked the store, according to online reviews, and were gutted it is closing.
One fan said: “Always high standard of service. Very well run place for how busy the place and area gets.”
Another wrote: “Wonderful classic shop. Always good quality food and clothing. Keep up the good work.”
A third added: “Staff in the food hall are exceptionally polite and customer service is 10/10. They go up and beyond for you here! Absolutely recommend it here!”
While a fourth person posted: “Always five star setup services quality products, cleanliness, well organised, professional staff. Highly recommended.”
In March, Shushila Patel, a regular at the store, told the Romford Recorder: “When shops like that go, they leave a void.
“And for Marks and Spencer to go, it won’t just leave a void, it will be the death of Ilford. I really feel that.
“I personally really strongly believe that Marks and Spencer has been the cornerstone of our High Road high street.”
OTHER M&S CLOSURES
The news comes after M&S confirmed its Murraygate Dundee will close on July 6, with staff moving to a new superstore at Gallagher Retail Park on July 16.
Earlier this month, the exact closing date of the M&S store in the Belfry Shopping Centre in Redhill, Surrey, was revealed – August 17.
It comes as part of M&S’ plans to close some of its “lower productivity” stores as part of a five-year plan to shake up its branch portfolio.
It comes as part of M&S’s plans to shake up its high street store presence, closing 110 branches but opening 100.
In October 2022, the posh retailer announced that 67 “lower productivity” branches would shut down over the following five years.
The 67 sites came as part of a wider radical restructuring plan first announced in 2016, which aimed to close 110 stores by 2022.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The retailer which runs 405 stores across the country, shut down locations in Manchester, Swindon and Birmingham between August and November last year.
M&S also announced the closure of its Walworth store in South London, and its home store in Kingditch Trading Estate in Tewkesbury, Cheltenham.
The site at The Broadway Shopping Centre closed its doors for the last time on May 18.
If you want to know if your local might be next, we have the full list of M&S stores that are marked for closure in 2024.
However, it is not all bad news for the retailer, or shoppers as in January 2023, it announced it would open 20 more stores over the financial year.
At the same time, it said it’s opening 104 new “bigger and fresher” food stores.
In the last 12 months, it has opened 22 sites including in Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester.