Marks & Spencer has landed an exclusive new deal with one of Ireland’s leading roadside retailers, Applegreen.
As part of the deal, M&S Food products – including fresh fruit, sandwiches, salads and ready meals – will initially be available in five Applegreen locations alongside the retailer’s existing product range.
The first location to launch the M&S Food “shop-in-shop” concept will be Mountgorry, Co Dublin in November, followed by Booterstown, also in Co Dublin, shortly afterwards.
Three more locations will open in the first quarter of next year.
Applegreen operates 500 forecourt sites across the UK, Ireland and the US. It currently has almost 200 locations in the Irish market.
“This partnership will expand our footprint in Ireland and help bring delicious, great value M&S Food to even more customers,” said M&S trading director for Ireland Eddie Murphy.
“Applegreen is a fantastic Irish brand, and we are hugely excited to be partnering with them in this market.
“Whether it is picking up lunch or dinner on the move, buying snacks on a journey, or doing a convenient week’s shop, customers will find a wide range of M&S food in new convenient locations across the country.”
M&S Ireland currently has 18 stores in the country, where it has been trading for over four decades, and employs 1,800 colleagues.
Applegreen Ireland MD Fiona Matthews added: “We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with M&S, a strong and trusted brand for high-quality food.
“As a proud Irish business, we believe this partnership will complement our market-leading offer of choice, quality, value, and a great experience to our customers on the road.”
Applegreens is currently amid an expansion plan, with goals to acquire and develop new sites in the markets in which it already operates, as well as “upgrading and rebranding its existing locations”, it said.
Meanwhile, M&S Food has ramped up its convenience and forecourt presence in recent months via key franchise partnerships – earlier this year, it began supplying some of its most popular food-to-go products to Costa Coffee locations.
The deal has seen more than 30 M&S Food products such as hot meal boxes and sandwiches become available in over 2,500 Costa Coffee stores across the UK.
Overall, M&S Food products are available in more than 300 roadside, rail, and airport locations across the country.
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