Exciting times this week as Marks & Spencer unveiled two of their new look hybrid stores.
Marks & Spencer has redesigned its High Street Kensington store as one of two pilots to debut a more ‘segmented’ offer, with the second opening in Stratford’s Westfield shopping centre.
The pilots are part of M&S chief executive Marc Bolland’s three-year strategic plan for the business, which he announced in November 2010. A further 13 stores will roll out the new concept by October.
“Concept 11” is a pilot in a selection of our stores, designed to refresh our brands and provide a better shopping experience for customers. High Street Kensington is the first of our stores to complete its refresh – with 14 more to open by 13 October, and up to 100 by March 2012.
The difference is apparent before customers even enter the store, with new style lighting, mannequins and props giving a new look to the windows and enticing customers in to shop. Inside, the store has a clearer layout and improved customer navigation – with clearer signage and navigation for customers, while an improved Visual Merchandising kit helps our products to really shine.
In Clothing, we are changing the way our stores work by making areas clearly defined according to the personality of our brands – with specific kit, decor and packaging helping to really differentiate the brands and communicate with customers.
In Food, we are making a clear step toward being a specialist food retailer, bringing in elements of theatre in a new-look Foodhall that showcases the quality and freshness of our food. The 28ft Deli counter with 110 new and exclusive M&S lines, and meat slicer and pasta maker.
We will be closely monitoring High Street Kensington and our other Concept 11 stores, to see how customers respond to the changes and to learn what works best in each of them – and what will work best in our other stores".
