Across the UK, Marks & Spencer is rolling out a £300 million overhaul that quietly reshapes how its stores work. The plan shifts space away from sit-down cafés and towards bigger, faster, food-led layouts – a move that will alter familiar routines for thousands of regular shoppers.
M&S reshapes its stores: less café, more food hall
M&S is trimming or scrapping many of its in‑store cafés as part of a huge refresh of its estate, redirecting investment into food halls, energy‑saving kit and smoother store layouts.
The retailer is effectively swapping cappuccino corners for extra chillers, bakery counters and grab‑and‑go fridges designed to keep shoppers moving.
In practice, that means square footage once used for 50–70 café seats is being repurposed for:
- larger fresh fruit and veg sections
- expanded in‑store bakeries with more bread and pastries
- Food to Go hubs with sandwiches, salads and hot options
- extra space for “Dine In” and meal-deal fixtures
Some branches will lose their café completely. Others will keep a slimmed‑down version – more of a compact coffee bar than a lingering lounge. The direction of travel is the same: shorter dwell time, more focus on food, and a layout that’s closer to a modern supermarket than a department store with a tearoom.
Why M&S is axing cafés in favour of bigger food halls
Behind the nostalgia, there’s hard retail maths. A bank of tables might feel comforting, but it doesn’t generate the same revenue per square metre as shelves packed with chilled food that turns several times a day.
Cafés also bring extra costs:
- trained baristas and kitchen staff
- food safety and allergen compliance
- dishwashing, cleaning and waste management
- complex rotas tied to breakfast and lunch peaks
By comparison, a well‑designed food hall can run with fewer specialist roles and still serve more customers in less time. That’s especially attractive as habits shift towards “little and often” top‑up shops, online orders and quick click‑and‑collect visits.
M&S is gambling that shoppers will forgive the loss of a latte stop if they gain wider choice, faster queues and brighter, easier‑to‑navigate stores.
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The £300m budget also covers new refrigeration, better lighting and more efficient back‑of‑house spaces. Those changes are invisible to customers, but they cut energy bills and make staff shifts more manageable – key issues in a tight retail labour market.
What you’ll notice on your next visit
If your local branch is being refitted, you’re likely to see signs and hoardings go up around former café areas first. Seating disappears, contractors move in, and weeks later the space reopens as part of an enlarged food hall.
| Change in store | What it looks like | Impact on your shop |
|---|---|---|
| Café closed or shrunk | Fewer or no tables, coffee shifted to a smaller counter | Less chance to linger, more takeaway drinks |
| Food hall expanded | Longer aisles, extra bakery and produce, more chillers | More choice, potentially longer but faster-moving runs |
| Updated layout and kit | Wider pathways, new fridges, brighter displays | Easier to navigate with trolleys and prams |
Many shoppers will feel a jolt the first time they walk in and find “their” café gone. The classic routine – browse clothing, break for a pot of tea, then swing by the food hall – will no longer work in quite the same way in some locations.
How to adapt your M&S routine
There are ways to keep your visit pleasant and calm, even as seats vanish and aisles stretch.
Time your trip
Refitted stores are designed for flow, but peak times will still feel busy. Early mornings and later evenings tend to offer:
- fresher trays from the bakery
- shorter waits at self‑checkouts
- clearer sightlines along the main food hall run
If you’re anxious about change or easily overwhelmed, try a quieter weekday slot to learn the new layout before a Saturday rush hits.
Rethink the coffee break
If you rely on an in‑store sit‑down, check the M&S app or in‑store notices to see what your branch is keeping. Some will still offer a handful of seats or a small counter with hot drinks and cakes, focused on quick service rather than leisurely lunches.
Think “pause with a flat white, then back to the aisles” instead of “park here for the afternoon with a pot of tea and a magazine”.
Where a full café has gone for good, you may want to pair your M&S trip with a stop at a neighbouring coffee shop or grab a takeaway drink from a smaller coffee point before you start your shop.
Use click‑and‑collect strategically
The new layouts are designed with multi‑purpose trips in mind. A useful pattern for many households will be:
- order clothing or home items online to your local store
- collect from the desk or locker on arrival
- do a single, planned loop of the expanded food hall
This cuts back‑tracking between floors and replaces the old “break in the café, then go back for food” rhythm with a tighter circuit.
What it means for staff and high streets
Café closures naturally raise questions about jobs. M&S’s line so far is that many café workers will be redeployed into other store roles – on fresh counters, tills, replenishment and front‑of‑store welcome.
For most branches, the change is less about removing staff and more about shifting them closer to where food is sold and shoppers need help.
There is still uncertainty, especially in smaller towns where M&S acts as an anchor for the high street. A buzzing café brings footfall and gives older customers a reason to stay longer in town. Without it, there’s a risk that visits become shorter and more functional, which nearby independent cafés and shops will feel.
On the other hand, a stronger, busier food hall can pull in daily traffic for top‑up shops that might previously have gone to rival supermarkets. That steady flow can be good for neighbouring retailers, particularly if shoppers are coming in more often rather than only for a weekly café‑plus‑browse treat.
What this shift tells us about modern grocery shopping
The move away from big in‑store cafés isn’t unique to M&S. Across UK retail, chains are rethinking how much space they give to hospitality versus pure retail as margins tighten and online rivals grow.
Two trends are converging:
- Shoppers want speed – grab a meal, pick up an online order, be done in 15 minutes.
- Retailers want flexibility – spaces that can be tweaked quickly for seasonal ranges and promotions.
Cafés, with their fixed plumbing, heavy equipment and long dwell times, sit awkwardly in that picture. Food‑first layouts, by contrast, can flex. Shelving can be moved, meal‑deal islands can grow or shrink, special ranges can appear overnight.
Practical scenarios for different types of M&S shopper
If you’re a parent with young children
The loss of a soft‑seating café corner can feel brutal when you’re juggling prams and snacks. To stay sane:
- aim for short, targeted food shops outside nap times
- use a written or app-based list so you can follow the main aisle once
- look for quieter pockets near bakery or ambient goods to regroup if needed
Check if your store still has baby‑changing or family-friendly seating zones, even if the formal café is gone. Those details often survive the refit.
If you’re an older or less mobile shopper
A café table can double as a rest stop. Losing that can be more than just an emotional blow; it can make a shop physically tougher.
Two options help:
- ask staff where the nearest seating is now located – some stores add benches or window seats
- break your trip into smaller, off‑peak visits so you’re standing for less time
If you’re finding the change genuinely difficult, say so. Store managers do still adjust layouts at the margins, and customer feedback on seating and rest points tends to carry weight.
Jargon check: what “space working harder” really means
Retail executives love the phrase “making space work harder”. In plain language, it means measuring how much money each square metre brings in, then changing layouts to increase that number.
A café chair might be used by one or two people for 45 minutes. The same floor area filled with chilled shelves could serve dozens of shoppers in that time, each picking up several items. When energy bills, wages and business rates are all rising, the higher‑earning option usually wins.
The trade-off is cultural. You gain efficiency and choice; you lose a bit of the slow, sociable department-store feel that older shoppers grew up with. M&S is betting that its core promise – good‑quality food, friendly staff, an easy shop – can survive that swap, even if the familiar clink of cups fades in the background.
Originally posted 2026-03-03 15:07:54.