Marks & Spencer bets on UK high street with new shops this holiday season

Marks & Spencer Group Plc is opening nine UK stores in November as it bets on a profitable holiday season.

The retailer said in a statement that it’s investing £80 million ($99 million) on the high street push — the biggest number of stores opened by M&S in a single month. The expansion includes new branches at Birmingham’s Bullring, Manchester’s Trafford Centre, and the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex.

The move comes as retailers are at pains to win back customers as higher inflation and a cost-of-living crisis following the pandemic curbed sales for emblematic British high street chains. Now, as inflation eases, M&S, Tesco Plc, and John Lewis Partnership Plc are hiring temporary staff to help cope with expected Christmas traffic.

Six of the stores being opened are larger format shops where M&S sells food, clothing, and homewares, while three are standalone food halls, the company said on Saturday. The retailer is reopening three other shops that have been refurbished. The Telegraph reported the news earlier.

“Stores are key to our business, and we see them as part of our competitive advantage,” M&S’s operations director Sacha Berendji said.

Still, almost a third of British consumers are planning to reduce Christmas spending this year as the burden of lofty inflation weighs on shoppers, according to research published in October from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

M&S is trying to broaden the appeal of its high-end grocery division by selling more staples and offering more affordable prices to encourage shoppers to turn to the retailer for their full weekly shop rather than just occasional purchases.

The London-headquartered retailer is set to report results on November 8.