M&S aims for 50pc growth by increasing stores to 27 in Republic
MARKS & Spencer plans to expand its presence in Ireland by 50pc in the next two years, bringing their total number of stores in the Republic up to 27 by 2009.
The chain opened its 17th store yesterday, in Athlone, and is aiming to expand sales in Ireland from €1bn in 2006/07 to €1.6bn by 2009/10, with food continuing to drive business and accounting for half that total, M&S technical director David Gregory said yesterday.
Many of the new openings will be in the south-east of the country, with new stores planned for Waterford, Clonmel, Kilkenny and in Limerick, but all will be dependent on receiving planning permission.
Opportunity
"As we create this critical mass, there's a real opportunity to suppliers here in Ireland to work with us in Ireland, as well as the opportunity to work with us in Great Britain and elsewhere in the world," Mr Gregory told Bord Bia's Food and Drink Industry Day in Dublin.
The company has not given a figure for its investment programme in Ireland and said this was sensitive, as it is still in negotiations with developers over some of the sites.
It hoped to double the amount of food it bought in the Republic in the next three years and there was huge scope for new innovative products and organic food.
Although the company is concentrating its expansion plans in the Republic, it also plans to open another four stores in Northern Ireland bringing the total there to 19.
M&S, as a retailing group, came through a very challenging time between 1998 and 2002, but now it is stable and profitable and has a £792m (€1.1bn) investment plan in place, and is also planning to expand its successful franchise operations in Asia by looking at new territories in the Far East, said Mr Gregory.
Premium
It was facing strong competition from other supermarket chains, all of which were now chasing M&S's "premium-isation" of the grocery market through quality own-brand foodstuffs, with Tesco Finest now a €1.6bn brand and Superquinn's newly launched SQ range another example of this trend, he said.
Health, indulgence, special occasion food and quality provenance were all part of the M&S offering, and they were increasingly working with suppliers to reduce environmental impact, by, for example, buying back wind energy from farmers, and looking at anaerobic waste digestion.
Its cafes and hospitality sector had also been very successful and M&S is now the third largest coffee bar chain in the UK, behind only the Starbucks and Costa Coffee chains, Mr Gregory said.
- Aideen Sheehan Consumer Affairs Correspondent
