The world’s biggest Marks & Spencer store has opened in Manchester – a culmination of three years and five months work in the wake of the 1996 IRA bomb.
Offering customers a glimpse of shopping for the future, the £85 million premises includes all Marks & Spencer’s services, initiatives and facilities under one roof for the first time ever.
With around 18,500 square metres of sales floor space across four floors, the state of the art development, which opened its doors on November 25, is linked by travelator to a basement car park while four glass lifts link the upper floors.
Visitors to the shopping extravaganza will find the food hall on the lower ground floor, complete with bakery, butcher’s shop and delicatessen counter. In addition, shoppers can browse the home furnishing department on the same level, together with a coffee bar in which to mull over purchases. A new-look wine department includes a tasting area where advisors are on hand to point you in the right direction.
The ladieswear department is spread across the ground and part of the first floor with lingerie and childrenswear accommodating the remainder. Meanwhile, menswear and a second coffee bar can be found on the second floor.
If the size of the store proves too much, shoppers are able to take a break in the customer lounge, putting their feet up while reading newspapers or watching TV. For the younger visitor, the welcome break is more likely to be found in the store’s play area.
On a more serious note, and helping to cater for every need, is the new-concept M&S Financial Services area. This includes a commission-free Bureau de Change and for visitors from further afield, tax free shopping can also be arranged.
Other special services include a complimentary personal shopping service where trained consultants can help customers find the ideal outfit in an exclusive suite.
The inaugural foundation stone marking the start of building work on the store was laid in June 1997, followed by the concrete foundations at the beginning of 1998. Construction of the building’s steel frame had been completed by the middle of 1998 with the topping-out ceremony performed in February 1999 by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. In early autumn, external elevations were completed followed by three month of hectic activity seeing the internal fixtures and fittings finally being put in place.
During the intervening period M&S has been operating from two temporary stores in the city centre – a food hall on Spring Gardens and M&S Piccadilly on three floors within Lewis’s. The former closed its doors on November 24 and the latter will close at the end of the year.
A total of 450 staff from the two sites have been moved into the new store, together with 400 permanent and temporary new employees.
Regional manager of M&S Manchester David Eyre said: “We promised the city a stunning new store for the Millennium and that is exactly what we have delivered.”
It’s all a far cry from Michael Marks’ first ever shop on Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester in 1893
Facts and Figures about the new Store
- 1,200 stone panels clad the building, weighing 3,000 tonnes
- The store is fitted with 5,000 sprinkler heads, serviced with more than 15 miles of piping
- Each sales floor is roughly the size of a football pitch
- The sales floors are lit by a total of 6,650 lighting units, including 4,000 spotlights
- There are around 280 miles of electrical lighting cables.