M&S has officially opened its transformed Pantheon flagship store in central London. The retailer says the iconic Oxford Street building is set to be one of the capital’s most popular shopping destinations, the transformed flagship store offering M&S Food, Fashion, Home and Beauty over four floors and almost 100,000 sqft of modern shopping space.
The Fashion, Home and Beauty floors have been completely renewed with a new R&D concept, creating "a new blueprint for future stores", says M&S, which plans to use the store to test and learn, with successful features rolled out across the wider estate over time.
"Store renewal and rotation is a key priority as M&S reinvests for growth, ensuring the right stores are in the right place, with each store offering the best possible shopping experience for customers," says the retailer. "Pantheon is one of six stores M&S is renewing in the capital this financial year, alongside four brand-new store openings. Across the UK, two new full-line stores, 18 new Food stores, four extensions and a number of renewals are planned."
The store has remained open while work was under way, with the lower ground fresh market-style foodhall opening last August and Womenswear and Beauty in January. This morning, the store’s remaining two upper floors have been unveiled, showcasing the latest Menswear, Kidswear, Lingerie and Home collections.
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.
An M&S x Kelly Hoppen homeware edit features within a bespoke section of Home, while across the store, customers will find new product displays, digital screens providing outfit inspiration and a refined Click & Collect, payments and services experience.
The final Pantheon store reveal comes as M&S celebrates 100 years in the fashion industry by launching its debut London Fashion Week collection this autumn.
Stuart Machin, M&S' chief executive, says: “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.
"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.”
Over 100 guests, including M&S ambassadors, joined Stuart and members of M&S’ leadership team for a preview of the store on Sunday evening.
