M&S returns to Stockport as part of £34m investment
The retailer has announced it will open a food store at Peel Retail Park, almost five years after the closure of its store at Merseyway Shopping Centre.
Marks & Spencer is investing £34m in new and existing stores in the North West.
Expected to open at the Stockport retail park this summer, the 16,000 sq ft store will be furnished with wooden crates and follow a traditional market-style design.
The store’s unit was previously a Next.
The M&S store will exclusively carry the company’s food range. It comes as part of M&S’ hopes to open more than 100 bigger food stores to create a network of 450 Simply Foods units.
Customers will also benefit from a Click & Collect Service.
Sacha Berendji, retail operations director for M&S, said: “Whilst other retailers go online, or sadly disappear, we are committed to having great shops. This means having the right store, in the right place, with the right space to serve our customers the way they want to shop today.
“We’re really pleased to confirm our plans to invest in Stockport by opening a new M&S Foodhall that will create around 70 new jobs for the local economy and will offer local customers a brilliant place to shop our wide range of M&S Food products.”
Mark Whittaker, executive director of property investment and management at Peel L&P, which owns Peel Retail Park, added: “It is brilliant to be working alongside M&S to deliver another brand-new offering for our local community and customers to enjoy at Stockport Retail Park.
“We have built a strong and trusted working relationship with M&S across our Peel L&P Retail Parks portfolio and we are proud to be bringing such a well-loved, quality brand to our Stockport Retail Park, M&S will be a great addition and we wish them every success.”
The company also plans to move to 180 larger stores that sell its full clothing, home, and food ranges. This includes the planned Trafford Centre and Liverpool One stores set to open later this year.
The agents for Peel Retail Park, located off Portwood Roundabout, include Cushman and Wakefield, Savills, and Reid Rose Gregory.
Should have been Mersey shopping centre not an overcrowded private complex with limited parking!
By Anonymous
I thought that Marks and Spencers were closing shops, according to last year’s new?
By Elephant
Is Stockport M/S opening for clothes ? Much needed.
By Anonymous
Peel Centre is far nicer than Merseyway
By Cal
Merseyway store closed 5 years ago in 2018. The store will be offering a free car park behind the next store and this news has been floating around for over 12 months. The staff at next were told M&S were opening. The merseyway store was very profitable it was just full of Asbestos. Good news and a welcome addition to the town.
By Stephen James
Hi Stephen, thank you for pointing this out. I have now amended my error. Sophie.
By Sophie Rennie
Don’t need another food store, should have been clothing and where is everybody going to park it’s already gridlocked on weekends
By Anonymous
As one opens the Bolton town centre one closes…. the last decent shop in the town centre. A huge blow for the town.
By MJ
Should open in Merseyway NOT peel centre. Open . At Primark end. As there are NO food shops at that end?
By Anonymous
In response to MJ. The North/South divide within GM is becoming a chasm. The old mill towns are all struggling, and Stockport, Trafford, Salford and Manchester are getting more and more investment. Oldham’s Princes Gate scheme for example, is still a building site after a decade.
By Elephant
Elephant’s not wrong, that said Rochdale and Oldham need to use the one thing they have in spades, green belt, to start building some middle class suburbia to bring more income and skills to those places. Once thats there its much easier to bring employers and retailers to town.
By Rich X
Complete with Peel parking charges?
By Anonymous
Rich X makes valid points but these middle class, semi-rural areas are not the issue. Places like Saddleworth, Littleborough, Bromley Cross, Ramsbottom etc, are totally detached from the towns they are in. The town centres in these former mill towns are dire, with grotty housing stock close by and complete dereliction which would draw nobody to them. The whole of North Manchester needs a plan and some areas just need to be flattened and rebuilt. Stockport does better because it has a much wealthier hinterland than these towns,and can raise money from these areas in council tax.
By Elephant
Good news if yiu have a car, but way to far to go to grab lunch for anyone working in the many offices around the train station and town hall area. How about a smaller one up that end M&S
By Anonymous
Not a lot of use to us as the simply food shop in Hazel Grove is to shut and its only 10 mins walk away
By Steve Divall
While I loved M&S food I will not be shopping there because of the car parking charges. Especially when I can drive to the Trafford Centre or free parking at my local store in Hazel Grove
By Margaret Bailey
I would love to see m and s back in Stockport, but with the full range, I love the fashion and homeware.
By Joanne Irving
Will there be a cafe
By Anonymous
We desperately need clothing stores in Stockport,the postage and returns costs are putting an extra 15% or more on the prices and this is becoming unacceptable.
By Christine Pennington
Fantastic just what we need cannot wait for it to open
By Pat
People won’t go routinely as you have to pay for parking. Free parking at every other supermarket in the area.
By Anonymous
Fantastic news, look forward to shopping in the store!
By Nat
Can we have M&S Clothes back in Stockport
By Denise Nolan
I don’t park at the peel centre as its expensive to park and it’s hard to park there . getting tickets only being a second over your time and expensively been find. Not a good parking experience. Not helpful to disabled Parker’s They’ll have to sort the parking out before it will be successful.
By Alison
The M&S shop in Hazel Grove is scheduled for closure next year. Apparently the lease expires then but the facility in south Stockport will certainly be missed by many local shoppers.
By Tim
We need a M&S store in Mersey way shopping centre which would mean a short walk from the bus centre, Think about people who don’t have their own trarnsport !
By Anonymous