Applegreen – one of Ireland’s leading roadside retailers – and M&S Food are to significantly expand their partnership, following a successful first year of operations, wherein trading has exceeded expectations.
Applegreen and M&S have signed an exclusive ten-year agreement that will add up to 60 new M&S Food at Applegreen locations during that time.
Applegreen intends to open 15 new M&S Food locations by the end of 2024, increasing the overall number of outlets to 20.
Shop-In-Shop Outlets
Over the past 12 months, Applegreen has opened an initial five M&S Food shop-in-shop outlets, which carry a range of up to 400 M&S products – including fruit, salads, sandwiches, lunch and dinner options, and a selection of other M&S favourites, such as Percy Pig sweets and Colin the Caterpillar cakes – complementing the forecourt retailer’s existing range.
The first of the new stores will be in counties Louth, Meath and Limerick, with other locations to be announced throughout the year.
All of the new M&S Food at Applegreen outlets will also feature click-and-collect facilities for M&S clothing and selected home product ranges.
‘Great News For Irish Consumers’
Applegreen Ireland managing director Fiona Matthews said, “This is great news for Irish consumers, as Applegreen will now bring M&S Food products to a much wider market.
“M&S Food complements the existing Applegreen offer, as we are always evolving to meet our customers’ high expectations.
“M&S is a great fit for Applegreen, as we share a focus on offering high-quality products with great customer service, provided by top-class colleagues in store.
“We have been delighted by the positive customer reaction to our partnership with M&S Food, which offers our customers greater choice and a wider product range.
“Based on the success of the partnership to date, and our ambition for further growth, we plan to roll out more than one M&S Food at Applegreen concept each month next year.
“We look forward to bringing this exciting concept to up to 60 new locations and communities over the next few years.”
‘Expanding The Footprint’
M&S country director for Ireland and Northern Ireland Eddie Murphy said, “One of the primary objectives of our partnership with Applegreen is to expand the footprint of M&S Food in Ireland.
“We’re excited to announce the rapid expansion of this partnership, following a successful pilot.
“The addition of 15 new locations by the end of next year – and many more in the years to come – enables us to offer top-quality, trusted-value M&S products to a broader customer base in Ireland.
“The expansion reflects the successful partnership between M&S and Applegreen.
“We are delighted to incorporate the new locations into our wider network and to continue to work closely with Applegreen – look out for M&S Food coming to your local Applegreen store!”
