Marks & Spencer has announced that it is to shut up to 60 stores across the country as part of a review of its retail offering.
Instead of its traditional clothing and home stores it will focus on growing its Simply Food stores. There are a number of the food branches across the borough including a dedicated supermarket at Shepherd’s Hill in Earley.
Wokingham’s Peach Street clothing store could be one of the branches under review, but the company is not revealing which locations are up for the chop.
Forensic review
In a statement, the company’s CEO Steve Rowe said: “We committed to creating a simpler business with customers at its heart, and taking action to start to recover our Clothing & Home business and continue to grow in Food.
“Our aim is to build a sustainable business which will delight our customers, provide a robust foundation for future growth and deliver value for our shareholders in the long term.
“We have now completed a forensic review of our estate both in the UK and in our International markets. Over the next five years we will transform our UK estate with circa 60 fewer Clothing and Home stores, whilst continuing to increase the number of our Simply Food stores. In the future, we will have more inspiring stores in places where customers want to shop that complement our growing digital offer.”
But there are no details as to which of the branches will be chopped.
Wokingham’s branch could be a contender as it is a smaller store. It is also in Peach Street and work is due to start on the ambitious town centre regeneration in January, including the creation of Peach Place.
A spokesperson for Marks & Spencer told The Wokingham Paper: “Today we announced a five-year plan for our store estate and don’t have any specific information on individual stores to share with you.”
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