M&S Foodhall opens its doors in Stone, here’s all the details

After several years of planning and development, the new M&S Foodhall has opened in Stone today

Paul Cottrell, store manager, cut the ribbon on the new store alongside Poppy Harper (aged 8), from Christ Church First School who won a competition to design an M&S logo to be used at the store.

Queues had started to build from 9:30 am, and Paul and his team welcomed them in just after 10 am.

Previously, customers from Stone and the surrounding areas who wanted to shop at M&S would have had to travel to Stafford or Wolstanton. The new store, which employs over 60 people, will be welcomed by those M&S customers as well as those looking for an alternative to the existing supermarket offerings that Stone is currently served by.

We caught up with Store Manager Paul to find out about his thoughts on the new Stone store:

“I’ve worked for M&S for 16 years, and this was a great opportunity to open a store local to me. I live in Eccleshall and visit Stone regularly so know what a lovely little town it is.

“Since January we’ve been working towards the store being complete, recruiting and training our customer focused team. The team have worked at nearby stores as we prepared to open and it’s great to say that 75% of the staff are from the local area and new to M&S.

“I’m really pleased with how the new store has turned out and speaking to customers this morning it’s great to hear the feedback on the inside and outside of the store.

“Now we’re fully open we look forward to forging closer links with the community, and we hope that in opening the store we will be a catalyst to bringing people into Stone and down onto the High Street.”

Paul added:

“We’re also really pleased to have teamed up with Stone Community Hub who will visit the store each day to asses any food that’s suitable for donation to the food bank.”

What’s inside?

M&S Foodhall’s, as their name suggests, focus on delivering quality fresh, frozen and pre-prepared food and complimentary products.

The new store features sections for:

• Flowers and plants
• Fruit and Vegetables
• Gift wrap and cards
• Pre-prepared Meals including the famous “Dine in for Two”
• Lunches to go
• Dry goods
• Sweets, chocolates and savoury snacks
• Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks
• Frozen Foods
• Cleaning
• Pet food

A Little Bit of Stone got exclusive early access to the new store, check out our gallery at the end for lots of pictures!

On-site bakery

The store features on on-site bakery preparing freshly cooked bread and other baked goods throughout the day.

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Cafe

If you’re looking for somewhere to meet or to relax after your shop, then the 66 seat cafe features indoor and outdoor seating and serves a range of hot and cold drinks and food including sandwiches, breakfasts, jacket potatoes and soup.

Click and Collect

Although there’s no provision in store for clothing or homeware, customers can utilise the Westbridge Park store as a collection point for orders made at the main Marks and Spener website – https://www.marksandspencer.com/

You can find the order & collect point at the rear of the store, to the right of the cafe.

Getting here and parking

The new store is located a short walk from Stone’s High Street and can be accessed on foot, by car, bus or via the Trent and Mersey canal.

Parking charges apply between 5:00 am and 8:00 pm for the 90 space car park.  There are five dedicated disabled parking bays, three parent and child spaces as well as a cycle rack.

Parking costs £1 for up to 90 minutes, which is refunded if the customer spends a minimum of £5 instore.  The car park is camera controlled via Euro Car Parks and payments can be made via cash or card, including contactless.
For collect by car customers, there’s a 15-minute free parking window.

Wifi

For pleasure or to get some work done in the cafe, there’s a dedicated guest wifi network for M&S customers to take advantage of!

Opening Hours

The store will be open from 8 am until 8 pm, Monday to Saturday and 11:00 am until 5:00 pm on Sunday
The Cafe will be open at the same time as the store, with closing approximately an hour before the store shuts.

Address

M&S Foodhall
Westbridge Park,
Stafford Street,
Stone
ST15 8QW

 Photo gallery