Marks & Spencer has opened what it hopes will be the testbed for future store success.
The home, fashion and beauty floors at the chain’s Pantheon flagship store on Oxford Street, London
have been completely renewed with a new research
and development concept, with Marks & Spencer using the four-storey branch to test and learn with successful features rolled out across the wider estate.
The upper floors of home, menswear, kidswear and lingerie are now open to customers: the lower ground foodhall opened last August and womenswear and beauty in January.
Dedicated rooms across each floor showcase curated collections, with dedicated product moments, zoning
and architectural features, all supported by ambient lighting, a colour palette of signature heritage green and warm neutrals, bespoke scents and curated playlists.
Key features include a M&S x Kelly Hoppen homeware edit, which also features within a bespoke section of home (pictured), designed by the interior designer.
‘In 2019, we built the blueprint to modernise our food business, with a new food format designed to capture the soul of a fresh market. We started at Clapham St John’s Road and have renewed 160 of our food stores since then, including here at Pantheon. Now we’re taking that same approach into fashion, home and beauty.
‘Pantheon on Oxford Street, where we’ve had a
store since 1938, is our first full-line flagship and our R&D store for fashion, home and beauty.
‘It’s where we’re testing how we make shopping our ranges easier, more curated and more inspiring, from clearer product moments to how the store looks and feels overall,’ says Stuart Machin, Marks & Spencer chief executive.
‘It’s a good example of our strategy to protect the magic and modernise the rest, holding on to the quality, style and value people know and trust us for, while making the experience more modern.
‘We’ve still got a lot to do modernising our estate,
with 25 years of catching up to do. But Pantheon is a
big step forward.’
