The retailer announced it will be focusing its international business on a franchise model in future, closing 53 stores across international markets, including ten stores in China, seven in France, and all its stores in Belgium, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, MTI added.

The Hungarian unit of Marks & Spencer broke even on revenues of HUF 3.6 bln last year, public records show, according to MTI, adding that turnover was up from HUF 3.1 bln in 2014.

U.K. newspaper reports noted that Marks & Spencer is shutting 30 U.K. stores as part of a major overhaul that will cut floor space devoted to its struggling clothing lines. More than 100 U.K. stores will be affected overall, with clothing departments to be shut entirely in 60 stores, while another 45 stores will be turned into branches of its more successful food chain, downsized or relocated.

Source: BBJ

Republished with permission