M&S opening 3 more London stores in 2026 but ‘underperforming’ commuter town shop set to close

Marks and Spencer is ‘aiming to double the size of its food business’ with several existing stores, including a flagship Oxford Street branch, getting big upgrades

Marks and Spencer has confirmed a further three new food stores will be opening in London in 2026, alongside major renewals to several existing shops. This comes, however, at the same time an “underperforming” M&S Simply Food branch in a commuter town outside Croydon and Sutton looks set to close.

A brand new M&S food store opened in Tooting Broadway on Wednesday (May 27) with another three still to come this year. The Mitcham Road branch marks M&S’ return to Tooting after 18 years. The first of the next London openings will be on Tottenham Court Road in June.

M&S will also relocate from its existing Tottenham Court Road store to a brand new 45 per cent bigger location on Tuesday, June 9, moving closer to the London Underground and Elizabeth line station and featuring M&S’ signature in-store bakery and coffee counter, offering barista-made takeaway drinks and speciality coffee, as well as a Mai sushi counter.

New food stores at Bell Green Retail Park in Sydenham and Elephant and Castle at The Elephant Development will also follow later this year. The London openings combined are expected to create over 150 new jobs for Londoners.

A M&S spokesperson said the big name retailer is “aiming to double the size of its food business by growing its store footprint and expanding existing stores”. M&S is also set to transform a number of its existing London stores this financial year, including the upper two floors of its flagship Pantheon Oxford Street store, opposite Winsley Street, reopening in July with new menswear, kidswear, lingerie and home sections.

Elsewhere, work is already underway at M&S’ Bankside store on Southwark Street, also reopening July. M&S also renewed a number of stores across the capital last year including Chiswick High Road, One New Change, Temple Fortune and Wimbledon.

Alex Freudmann, Managing Director of M&S Food: “In this new phase of our transformation, we are reinvesting for growth and in London that means opening new Food stores with the right range for families, commuters and local residents.”

While new openings are happening, M&S customers in Croydon and Sutton who venture over to Banstead may soon find the Simply Food branch in the nearby commuter town closed. The chain has announced it has made the ‘tough decision to propose the store closure’, as reported by sister site Surrey Live, but M&S remains ‘keen’ on finding a bigger location to open a new shop in the area.

Jolita Erminaite, Regional Manager at M&S, said: “Our UK-wide store rotation programme is all about offering the very best of M&S for our customers in-store. Sadly, as one of our smallest stores, we are not able to do that from our existing Banstead store and the store’s performance has not been where it needs to be.

“We have therefore made the tough decision to propose the store’s closure. We remain keen to find a suitable, alternative bigger location at Banstead in future, as part of our continued investment across Surrey.

“If these proposals go ahead, we will offer colleagues alternative roles at M&S wherever possible and will continue working hard to serve customers at our nearby Epsom and Sutton stores, both offering M&S Food and Fashion, Home and Beauty, and our Reigate foodhall.”

Banstead Simply Food is located on the High Street. The move comes at a time when M&S is expanding in Surrey. The high-street brand recently opened a Foodhall in Farnham and is set to open an even larger one in Godalming this summer.

Confirmed new M&SLondon openings and existing store upgrades

New food stores opening

• Tooting Broadway – opened May 27
• Tottenham Court Road – opening June 9
• Bell Green Sydenham – September 2026
• Elephant and Castle – Autumn/Winter 2026

Confirmed renewals so far

• Whetstone – launched April 7
• Bankside – July 2026
• Pantheon Oxford Street – July 2026
• Richmond – Autumn/Winter 2026

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