M&S returns to France after a decade

Ten years after its exit from Europe sparked street protests, the retailer is taking over a 15,000 square foot site in Paris Marks & Spencer is returning to France, opening a store on the Champs Elysées a decade after its retreat across the Channel sparked street protests in Paris. The company replanted a British flag in the heart of the Gallic retail industry this morning by disclosing that it would open a shop on the central-Paris boulevard. As well as opening other general stores around Paris, M&S is in talks to open a number of Simply Food outlets in the city. In a first for the company, it will accompany the expansion with a new French-language website, which will trade in euros. The main M&S store will extend to 15,000 sq ft over three floors and sell womenswear and food, taking over a site currently occupied by the Espirit clothing chain. M&S executives are hoping that the group’s return to France will receive a more positive response than its exit. In 2001, trade unions demonstrated against the closure or sale of 38 stores across France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and the Benelux countries. The reaction in France was particularly vociferous, with government ministers backing protests . However, M&S already appears to have learned from the past: it has pledged to retain and retrain the 30 Esprit staff. Unveiling the “bricks and clicks” strategy in Paris this morning, M&S chief executive Marc Bolland said the new shops would launch before Christmas. “Marks & Spencer has great brand awareness here in France and a place in customers’ hearts,” he added. “We’re very excited to be returning with an e-commerce and retail offer to delight customers with our full range of clothing and home products, and the exceptional food from our Paris store.” M&S said it would open Simply Food sites in collaboration with SSP, a UK franchise partner. Despite the street protests, M&S remains well-regarded in France. The group said seven out of ten people questioned for a survey were aware of the brand. However, M&S is not expected to restrict its ambitions to France. It was recently reported to be in talks to buy back some of the nine stores it sold to Spanish department chain El Corte Ingles as part of its European exit. The mainland Europe move has been expected for some time after Sir Stuart Rose, who chaired M&S until January this year, made clear his desire to reverse the 2001 exit. M&S, which has more than 600 shops in the UK, has been expanding abroad aggressively in recent years, with new outlets in India, Dubai and China. It plans to generate up to a fifth of sales overseas. Retail industry Marks & Spencer Marc Bolland Supermarkets France Europe Europe Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 1, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.