Marks&Spencer moves into Finland and Norway

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Oct 8, 2014

The British retailer plans to open 15 stores under franchise deals in Finland and Norway. For its Scandinavian strategy, the first step will be the launch of a 32,000-ft² flagship store this month in Helsinki.

The flagship will stock the brand’s entire range of clothing and food. Operated by S.Group, which owns the Swedish department stores Sokos, it will be followed by six more stores in the coming year. 

In Norway, a franchise agreement has been reached with Pocos Group, which already locally operates franchise outlets for the retailers The Body Shop and Accessorize. The first location, expected in November, will be dedicated to food, before the launch of seven other locations to include clothing as well. 

For its quarter ending on June 28, sales of clothing at Marks & Spencer remained almost stable (0.1%), but decreased by 0.6% on a comparable basis. As for the group’s overall sales, they rose by 2.3%, while sales in Britain rose by 2% and 0.3% on a comparable basis.