M&S to open first in-town LifeStore next summer

Marks & Spencer will open its first town centre LifeStore at Kingston upon Thames next summer.

The shop will be one of three pilot outlets of the home furnishings format, spearheaded by former Selfridges chief executive Vittorio Radice.

Radice said: '(The Kingston store) will enable us to investigate the opportunities in different locations and formats.'

Kingston will be a conversion of an existing 31,000 sq ft (2,880 sq m) M&S store on Clarence Street. M&S has a second, larger store on the street.

M&S LifeStore project manager Paul Denham said the Kingston store will be about half the size of the first Lifestore, which opens at Gateshead in February, but will have 'the same style signals'.

Out-of-town shops will be designed to incorporate house-style features, which would be difficult to replicate fully in town centre locations.

M&S has also agreed terms to open a second out-of-town LifeStore at Lakeside, Thurrock, in 2005. 'Thurrock will include all the learnings that we take from Gateshead,' he explained.

Radice has been keen to secure three test sites - the minimum number to allow full testing of the format, he believes. The planned out-of-town stores will both be standalone units, located away from main shopping malls.