Marks & Spencer will open most shops until midnight in the last days before Christmas to manage shoppers safely as the Covid pandemic continues.
Marks & Spencer expects December 21 to 23 to be its busiest days, as usual during the peak period, and so will trade 400 branches - about two thirds of its estate - through to 12 midnght. Last year just 15 M&S shops opened so late.
The retailer said that the longer hours would help “ensure colleagues and customers have the time and space they need to social distance” as shoppers stock up on last-minute food and gifts.
Most of the M&S stores that will open later are food shops, and clothing and food branches on retail parks. Shops on high streets and shopping centres will generally open until 10pm.
M&S has been encouraging customers to use its Sparks Book & Shop service to arrange dedicated shopping slots and avoid congestion. So far more than 125,000 bookings have been made that way.
M&S retail, operations and property director Sacha Berendji said: “We want our customers to be able to shop with confidence this Christmas, which means supporting social distancing in our stores and minimal queueing outside as the weather gets colder.
“To help with this, our Sparks Book & Shop service is now live at every store and we’ll be operating our longest ever opening hours just before Christmas to help customers purchase everything they need.
“Along with the wider industry, we continue to ask for Sunday trading hours to be extended to help us increase our capacity to serve everyone safely this festive season.”
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