Change is afoot at Marks and Spencer as it announces plans to close 60 or so of its clothing and homewares stores in the wake of a drop in its pre-tax profit for the 26 weeks to October 1st. New broom Steve Rowe has also identified a further 45 stores which will be downsized or converted into Simply Food stores. Food sales have remained strong for the retailer and rose by 4 per cent during the period against a drop of 5.9 per cent in clothing and homewares sales. It will not just be the UK store estate which is being scaled down; the retailer will also pull out of 10 loss-making countries. Other “casualties are its Indigo, Collezione and North Coast clothing brands as the store chain kickstarts the biggest changes in a decade in order to restore its fortunes.
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