Forum Topic

M&S Putney to close

Closing 8 stores including Putney unfortunately.. doesn't look like they'll keep the food part either

Graham Earl ● 2772d50 Comments

I heard today that Lidl might be taking over the site does anyone know if this is true? I'll miss M&S but I do like Lidl

Ellen Rashbrook ● 2723d

I am old fashioned enough to love M&S and really hope the Kew Retail Park one continues (50% sale started today).But I must say the PHS M&S has never been attractive to me.. hardly any clothing.. I think M&S food is overpriced and there they seem to sell mostly fast microwave stuff anyway. And absolutely no atmosphere... lovely people working there though.There must be a really good shop that could open in PHS .. I would love a Wholefoods.

Bunny Payne ● 2730d

Just received an email announcing the closure of the Covent Garden M and S on the same date as the Putney one. Very odd because the CG one is always packed wth long queues in the food hall. Also in an upmarket area with people buying salads etc to take to eat in the interval at the opera house. Anyway not only Putney!

Jane Carter ● 2731d

Rather than moaning among ourselves, why not write to the chairman Archie Norman or chief executive Steve Rowe. Waterside House, 35 North Wharf Rd, London W" 1NW expressing disappointment at the decision.

Elizabeth Balsom ● 2766d

So it is the only store to close now? Can you tell us why M and S made this decision?

Jane Carter ● 2767d

It's just that Putney and M&S seem to go together so well - ...

Judy Allen ● 2767d

Let's get facts right please. Putney is not the only M and S store in London to close-Balham M&S food closed in 2009. Wood Green mainline store closed in 2015 after being there for 77 years!Woolwich main line store closed in 2014 but they now have a smaller food hall which opened in 2016.

Nick Gulliford ● 2767d

Not amazing that so many people are writing about the impending M&S closure, but not amazing either that it is going to happen. (1) The food department was the best in the area, but it was noticeable that most customers bought very few items. They didn't use M&S for major shopping sprees, whereas Sainsburys and Waitrose attracted that type of business. (2) Probably fatally, the rest of the store, devoted to clothing (for both sexes) was dreary most of the time - both in terms of content but also in terms of display. Even so, I would have thought M&S managers could have decided to create a food-only store on PHS or nearby. One hopes they may have second thoughts. The disappearance of M&S food is a huge blow to PHS. So much of the rest is second-rate. Final point: What role, if any, does the Council play in trying to ensure that quality stores are established here?

Alexander MacLeod ● 2767d

Sounds like the curse of Putney High Street again.  M&S have 959 stores nationwide, 615 of which are foodhalls.  Not a single London branch has closed.  Only Putney.  Meanwhile, they are opening 36 new stores, 34 of which are foodhalls, including new food outlets recently opened in Southfields and Barnes.  What does this tell us?  The High Street leases are higher than everywhere else?  (Laura Ashley didn't want to pay for the privilege).  Or perhaps SW15 prefers National Velvet in its lasagne.  Answers on a betting slip please.

Chantal Blake-Milton ● 2767d

It's difficult to second guess why M&S want to shut their Putney branch. Firstly, we don't know the lease details, aside from cost is their a limited time on it that's not compatible with M&S's business planning, or similarly does the store size no longer fit that? Perhaps the landlord had another potential tenant willing to pay more. Also, there's many changes in Putney which could have affected their footfall - there's the new Coop, Sainsbury and Waitrose stores in East Putney, I think the Waitrose in the Exchange has expanded and some people may have switched to services such as organic vegetable deliveries. Additionally, many of the office blocks on URR are now flats with, apparently, limited occupancy (I suspect some are used as Air BnB lets). I'm not sure this level of change has taken place in Barnes, Southfields, etc?

Michael Ixer ● 2767d

Spot on Martine.  At 96 with normal blood pressure one is less concerned with salt intake than getting an easy hot meal, as is her over-worked GP, dealing with overweight people who gorge on salt and sugar-laden non M&S food.  I regularly see many young people buying their brilliant salads on the way home from Putney Bridge tube, so this is not just a problem of Marks being "old-fashioned". The real question is, why Putney is lumped in with regional towns who have a very different demographic, and why a new foodhall, which is always busy, has opened in Barnes, and I gather neighbouring Southfields.  Why aren't the branches in Fulham, Wimbledon and Kingston closing?  Yet again, Putney is bucking the trend of surrounding neighbourhoods and going more and more downmarket, with another valuable asset being lost.  I wonder if they were simply forced out by exterminate rate increases.  Whichever way you look at it, the High Street seems to be going one way, and, it's not up.

Chantal Blake-Milton ● 2768d

Yes Bunny, I agree, now I don’t need to buy the ready meals, which Marks and Spencer do much better than anyone else, I use Sainsbury’s for nearly everything.

Martine Guy ● 2768d

Well I'm going to put in a good word for Sainsbury's.  Good food and much cheaper than M&S.  I do my main shopping at the one in Werter Rd where you can use the car park of 1.5hrs for free if you spend £15 or £20 (forget which).  Helpful staff, good produce.

Bunny Payne ● 2768d

Liam, my mother used to eat M&S ready meals, which is the main reason I started shopping there everyday.  Their ready meals are delicious and easy for someone with chewing problems to eat.  Unfortunately they don’t suit her anymore but believe me, until you have looked after someone with dementia, all you care about is whether they are able to eat the food.

Martine Guy ● 2768d

Also, the reason their ready meals are so delicious is that they are absolutely packed with salt. Read the labels.  I'm surprised to hear a Doctor recommended them for an elderly person, when the usual medical advice for that age group is  to steer clear of too much salt.

Liam Jones ● 2768d

You’ve hit the nail on the head, Chantal.  M&S is Mum’s favourite store too and the first place she heads when she comes to visit - but she’s in her 70s.  Putney has a large, and growing, younger population, for many of whom M&S is utterly irrelevant.  Times are changing and M&S is failing to keep up.

Craig Fordham ● 2768d

M&S food is the best on the high street.  Anyone who describes a meal-deal of £10 for three courses and a bottle of wine as over-priced is delusional.  M&S were the only supermarket not have used horse-meat in any of their products.  Their ready-meals are far more healthy than the the takeaway junk on the high street, and a life-line for busy young professionals and old people - I buy their meals-for-one for my elderly mother and freeze them, allowing her an easy delicious hot meal every day, as recommended by her doctor and carers.Their clothing range was aimed at the essentials, good cotton underwear as well as sleep wear.  The only place to buy proper nightdresses much needed by my mother on her increasingly regular visits to hospital.  When  my husband was rushed into hospital, M&S was the only place I could quickly buy him pyjamas, slippers and dressing gown.  Where can men now buy good cotton shirts in the High Street?  What I fail to understand is why Putney (where house prices are three times the national average) is grouped with five other locations shutting down, including Birkenhead, and Fforestfach, a deprived area of Wales.  There are no closures planned in Scotland, with stores opening in the Middle East and Hong Kong.  Aldi and Lidl would only add to the impression of a thoroughly run-down High Street, so I am in full agreement with the lady quoted in the Times.  Smug Waitrose must be grinning all the way to the bank.

Chantal Blake-Milton ● 2768d

times have really moved on since M&S introduced us to the avocado. Most of the food is cook-chill processed (ie unhealthy) and the fresh produce is over-priced. The store was never big enough to give a sufficient clothing range. haven't bought much there for years and I shalln't miss them.Maybe we will be lucky and see an Aldi or Lidl take the void. Then there would be some genuine price competition in the High St for groceries.

John Shawcross ● 2769d

I've been to Southside yes and I've never been back!

Nick Gulliford ● 2770d

Sad to see any store closures. I shopped there on a recent visit to Putney.

Merle Mann ● 2770d

I am really sad about Putney as I have lived here 56 years - maybe the landlords should lower their rents! It used to be full of shoe shops! Now the next generation do all their shopping on the internet and have it delivered - sign of the times - no cash involved! Ha ha! My daughters don't know what cash is!Have any of you moaners been down to Southside recently?? - trade is doing so well down there with lots of new shops!! However there is a Brand New Clean M&S Food Hall next to Southfields Tube - You can order online and pick up any clothing from there! Open to 11pm except Sundays! Nearer than Wimbledon or Kew!

Jill Johnson ● 2770d

I’ll be using Fulham or Kings Rd M&S.  Since we lost Fat Face from the Exchange, I like to visit the one on the Kings Rd.  It’s a nice bus journey on the 22.I would say the closure of M&S Putney is the biggest talking point around Putney for some time, everyone is on about it.

Martine Guy ● 2770d

Sad news - but the M&S Food Hall in Centre Court Wimbledon is excellent and easily accessed from Putney via the 93 from Putney Hill or the District Line from East Putney Tube Station. Good news at least that Putney staff are to be found jobs at other branches around here.

Judy Allen ● 2770d

Richmond - George St, Wimbledon - Centre Court  Both short trips available on public transport, but it won't be the same.Have to make a list and make a special journeyI might sharpen the quill pen and write to the board, but I guess it's a done deal

Elizabeth Balsom ● 2770d

Very sad about M&S closing. I wonder if a petition would help, but probably not, as the site will probably be re-developed. For those with cars, then Kew and Kingston will be the nearest, but of course people tend not to travel too far for everyday shopping, so M&S profits will drop. Sad. Kensington for those without a car, but again, will people bother to make the journey?

Carole Madeleine Tanner ● 2770d

Am gutted. use it like my corner shop. I would pop in on my way home from work and collect deliveries from there. a real shame, albeit unsurprising. they could have done more though by putting a nice food hall in the exchange for instance.

Maxine Campbell ● 2770d

Bunny i understand there is someone currently considering that space.There is also another household name due take a unit elsewhere in the centre hopefully.Nick

Nick Gulliford ● 2770d

I wonder if the big space where Next used to be will ever get filled?

Bunny Payne ● 2770d

Maybe that one Putney customer who said Putney is full of betting shops hadn’t walked round our town at all. We actually have less betting shops now than in anytime in the last 5 years number one.Did she go into Putney Exchange and see all these independent shops -Brownie and cake kioskBen and Lola kids wearBoutique pod jewellers Penelope Red jewellersFarago gift shop Panacea health shopShirt and Tie shopFlower SmithAfflair furniture Crew RoomHuttons Giuliano deli on lacy roadBlar blar gift and coffee If this women would like a guided tour I can start inExchange and work our way down to LRR and URR and the High Street of course. Looking at a 25,000 sqft H and M. Maybe she thinks that’s a betting shop ask well?????

Nick Gulliford ● 2770d

Well she has a point!

Jane Carter ● 2770d

Interesting article on the M&S closures on Page 45 of The Times today.  The Putney store opened in 1933.  One Putney customer said “I’m thinking of moving.  M&S was the one decent shop on the street.  Now Putney is becoming nothing but betting shops.  I’m just devastated.”

Martine Guy ● 2770d

The new one by Southfields Tube - would be nearer!

Jill Johnson ● 2771d

Please calm down all. A big loss and a shame a certain Stuart Smith said it was definitely closing in January 2017 and within weeks it would go to Boots. That didn’t happen. M and S still would like a food store in Putney ok. There are many other good things happening so please all stay positive.

Nick Gulliford ● 2772d

So they'll just have the one store on the High Street.

Simon Knight ● 2772d

Well I just checked. Boots will have to move out if this scheme which was rejected the other day gets through in any revised form.For info Boots is 45-53 Putney High Street.http://londonplanning.org.uk/lp_planning/45-53-putney-high-street/

Adrian Pearce ● 2772d

Why would Boots relocate to that big two level store? They know that upstairs would be the same ghost town that it is for Marks.

Simon Knight ● 2772d

I assume if the old rumour / claim is true, if Boots give up their existing store and move into the M&S site then it is much easier to redevelop the High Street / Putney Bridge Road corner.  I know that it's not the same landlord for the actual corner site but I believe everything else is with one landlord, hence recent planning applications.

Adrian Pearce ● 2772d

It's not just them closing (sad that it is) it's another big retail site empty. PHS with the limited and expensive parking and poor shops isn't worth the trip. Were it not for Waitrose I'd drive the few extra miles and shop in Kingston.

Simon Knight ● 2772d

A very sad loss for those of us who live close by and are regular customers, the team there is very good and the food excellent.  However, when they announced closures yesterday I had a feeling we were doomed!  I had hoped they would open a food only-store in the Exchange but have heard no rumour of this.

Susie King ● 2772d

I hope you are right Mads, as then we would be able to order online and use click and collect.

Martine Guy ● 2772d

I think you will find they must have something in mind, because I think you will find Brewers is shutting round the corner, R.Dyas has already shut over 3 yrs.

Barbara Stevens ● 2772d

A friend who lives in one of the new developments on the Upper Richmond road next to East Putney station was told 6 months or so ago that an M&S Food was going in one of the empty retail units at the bottom. Haven't been able to find anything on it since, but that would be a welcome opening now they are officially closing the main one, if anyone else has a clue what's going there?Also saw today on Facebook that The Putney Canteen is closing and being replaced by an Esquires coffee shop.

Mads R ● 2772d

It's alright if you drive the large M&S at Kew Retail Park, past Mortlake dump. Lots more cloths and shoes, but not much good for everyday shopping.

Barbara Stevens ● 2772d

Sadly I think you may be right. I still wear clothes bought years ago at M&S (but I still have clothes with "Made in England" labels!) I do shop there for jeans and trousers because I'm 5' 1" and they do short lengths and I have heaps of pretty things from M&S.

Elizabeth Balsom ● 2772d

I used to shop for food in M&S Putney everyday until nearly a year ago.  I’ve now changed to Sainsbury’s because I’m finding I can get virtually everything I want there and they seem to be stocking similar quality items, but at a cheaper price.  I felt awful about it because I like the staff in M&S, they are lovely and I hope they find jobs at other branches.You do have to wonder if M&S’s days are numbered.  Their clothes are so frumpy.  I doubt their Sparks card has been a success.  I never had one as I couldn’t see the benefit, whereas I save my points at Sainsbury’s for my Xmas shopping.  I could never understand why the Putney branch didn’t sell children’s clothes with so many young families in SW15.

Martine Guy ● 2772d

There's a largish food store in Wimbledon's Centre Court. Easy on the tube for those who don't have a car. But I'm sad to see it go, though hardly surprised.

Elizabeth Balsom ● 2772d

And yet they opened one in Southfields, which seems to do well.

David Ainsworth ● 2772d

Been on the cards for a while but sad to have it confirmed. Food sales have been Marks main strength and revenue for several years and their future must be online food deliveries to compete with the supermarkets and Ocado.  I believe some trials started last Autumn.

Sue Hammond ● 2772d

That's terrible news, for us, the staff, and the High St.  Best supermarket food around, will have to drive to Barnes.

Chantal Blake-Milton ● 2772d

Goes in April...the retailer also confirmed six stores will close by the end of April at Birkenhead, Bournemouth, Durham, Fforestfach in Wales, Putney and Redditch, with all staff moving to nearby stores.

Adrian Pearce ● 2772d