Marks and Spencer has withdrawn its plans to open a flagship store in Amsterdam which was due to open in two months‘ time.
Former CEO Marc Bolland had initiated expansion in the Netherlands and planned to open a 6,100 sq m Amsterdam flagship in The Rokin this year.
Marks and Spencer returned to the Netherlands in 2013 and since has opened a website and multichannel boutique on Amsterdam‘s Kalverstraat. The country has a number of Simply Food stores and Marks & Spencer also opened a 4,800 sq m store in The Hague in 2014.
However, its most recent venture in the country has been terminated, as Canadian department store group Hudson‘s Bay Company is understood to be occupying the location in The Rokin instead.
Marks and Spencer‘s decision to pull out of the Amsterdam flagship site follows its decision to end its partnership with six BP stations in the country as a result of poor sales.
“The plans have changed considerably since we first looked at the store and this has provoked interest from other parties. We‘ve accepted an offer we couldn‘t turn down as a result,” a Marks and Spencer spokeswoman told Dutch News.
