Stockport’s brand-new M&S Food Hall has finally opened its doors, and some new images have been released so shoppers can have a sneak peak inside.
It’s been a long time coming – but after it was announced earlier this year that the Greater Manchester town would see the return of M&S after the retailer notably-closed its large department store inside the Merseyway Shopping Centre back in 2021, Stockport‘s brand-new M&S Food Hall opened its doors for the first time yesterday.
Staff were joined by the retailer’s iconic mascot Percy Pig to do the honours of cutting the ribbon, and welcoming the over 300 dedicated local customers who’d started queuing from 7am to get the first look inside the store.
The new 16,000 sq ft “market-style” Food Hall is located on Stockport Retail Park.
Inside the new store, shoppers will find fresh produce displays “brimming with great quality”, a show-stopping bakery with fresh bread, pastries, and sweet treats that are all baked daily, and impressive array of fine cheeses from across Europe at a dedicated cheese counter.
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There’s also an M&S Wine Shop inside the store – with an award-winning selection of drinks to match and sommeliers on hand to tell you more.
Stockport’s brand-new M&S Food Hall has finally opened its doors / Credit: Supplied
The reason there were hundreds of shoppers queued up outside so early in the morning yesterday was because the first 200 people to step foot inside the new store were handed special ‘golden tickets’, with every ticket guaranteeing a win, whether the win be a free bag of Percy Pigs, freshly baked cookies, or something even bigger.
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And to mark the occasion of the new opening, one lucky customer even won a £200 M&S voucher
“We are thrilled to open our brand-new Food Hall in Stockport,” Store Manager Anna Priest said at the grand opening yesterday.
It’s among the first of 20 new M&S stores that are due to open across the UK in 2023 / Credit: Supplied
“The last few weeks have been spent putting the finishing touches to our new store and I’m exceptionally proud of my amazing team who have all worked so hard to make sure everything is ready for our big opening day.
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“The store is an exciting investment in the future of M&S in Stockport, and I can’t wait for our customers to explore all the new features that the store has to offer.”
One of Manchester’s biggest vintage shops to close after a decade
Daisy Jackson
One of the biggest and best vintage shops in Manchester has announced its imminent closure.
Thrift Shop, which is part of the legendary Cow Vintage family, has said that the landlord of its store has ‘chosen not to renew our lease’.
The beloved vintage shop has been in its spot just off Piccadilly Gardens for a decade, with colourful rails stuffed with pre-loved denim, coats, dresses, accessories, and more.
Ahead of its closure this week, Thrift Shop has announced details of a major closing down sale, aiming to get rid of all its stock.
Initially touted as two for £10 on all thrift items, they’ve now slashed prices even further and are offering three items for £10.
That does exclude their ‘premium’ items, where you can snap up big labels like Carhartt and Levi’s.
Sharing the sad news of its closure online, Thrift Shop Manchester wrote: “We are gutted to announce the closure of beloved Manchester store.
Thrift Shop Manchester is throwing a huge closing down sale
“Last week we found out our landlord chose not to renew our lease after over ten years in this unit.
“To bid our farewell, we’re doing a MASSIVE closing down sale to get rid of all stock !!!! All Thrift items will be 2 for £10 until our last trading day on 30th May!!
“We’ve absolutely loved serving you for all these years, so long, farewell and, as always, get thrifty.”
In the comments, fellow independent retailer Thunder Egg – which just had to move out of its Oldham Street store (but is still in Afflecks) – commented: “So sorry to hear this, retail landlords in Manchester are absolutely in their sh*tbag era right now.”
Thrift Shop Manchester will close for good on Saturday 30 May.
Demolition and regeneration plans for former Manchester shopping centre to begin next month
Emily Sergeant
Plans to demolish and regenerate a former shopping centre in a Manchester suburb are set to kick off from next month.
Following planning approval at the end of 2025, major plans to transform the former Chorlton Cross Shopping Centre into a ‘thriving’ new destination to live and shop are set to commence with demolition in the next couple of weeks.
If you’re unfamiliar with the plans for the new Chorlton neighbourhood, they include 262 one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, all with access to outdoor space through balconies and gardens, 53 affordable homes – with 49 of them being available for social rent – and around 3,500 sq metres of public open space with fully walkable routes and outdoor seating areas.
A mix of flexible retail spaces, including a new ‘Makers Yard’ suitable for smaller start-up businesses will also be included, alongside new tree planting.
Phase one of the project will involve the dismantling the former shopping centre and neighbouring Graeme House buildings.
According to developers, the first step will be to close the precinct car park at the end of this month, before new hoardings are installed around the site to close the area off to pedestrians and vehicles for safety reasons.
The demolition work is expected to begin in mid-June, and be completed by August.
Where possible, materials from the existing buildings will be reused during construction of the new neighbourhood in a bid to help reduce the number of vehicles needed to remove materials from the site.
“Demolition marks another major milestone for the project, which will completely transform the former shopping centre,” commented Georgina Lynch, who is the managing director at Manchester-based developers, PJ Livesey.
“Our demolition contractor will carefully manage any issues throughout the work, and we will continue to stay in regular contact with local residents and businesses as the demolition progresses.”
Emily Sergeant -
15th June 2023 
