British retailer Marks & Spencer is slowing its overseas expansion drive amid economic turbulence in priority markets China and Russia, its international boss told Reuters.
Battling tough markets at home, M&S chief executive Marc Bolland set targets in 2014 to open 250 new stores overseas in three years. The aim was to increase international sales by a quarter and push profit up by 40 percent, with China, Russia, India, the Middle East and Western Europe the focus.
Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, M&S’s executive director of marketing & international, told Reuters the firm remained committed to both Russia and China but signalled those overseas targets were now unobtainable, prompting a re-think of the pace of expansion over the short term.
(Source: The Business Times)