M&S Godalming Food Store Opens as Biggest Standalone Foodhall

Marks & Spencer has opened a 22,000 sq ft Foodhall in Godalming, creating 80 jobs and introducing a larger format dweekly shop.

Marks & Spencer has opened its largest-ever standalone Foodhall at The Wharf Retail Park in Godalming, Surrey, as the retailer pushes ahead with plans to expand its food business through bigger stores and a broader value range.

The 22,000 sq ft store opened at 8 am on Thursday, 16 July 2026, inside the former Homebase unit on Woolsack Way. It carries the full M&S Food range and employs a team of 80 new colleagues.

Distinction is important: Godalming is M&S’s biggest standalone food-only shop, rather than the company’s largest store overall. Full-line branches combining food with clothing, homeware and beauty can be considerably larger.

Although the store is outside Greater London, its Surrey location and proximity to the town centre make it accessible to residents across the wider south-west commuter belt. The site sits beside Flambard Way and the River Wey, with an existing bus stop nearby and access by foot, bicycle and car. supermarket-style range

M&S has designed the Godalming Foodhall to compete for a greater share of customers’ main weekly grocery shops, rather than relying chiefly on convenience purchases, meal deals and special-occasion food.

The branch contains an expanded bakery, wider fresh produce sections and a central “cheese barge”, alongside a dedicated chicken shop, rotisserie counter and Mai Sushi concession.

It also includes a kitchenware section, flower and plant ranges, pet food, frozen fruit and an upgraded beers, wines and spirits department. ducts normally separated by refrigeration requirements have instead been grouped by category. Herbs, for example, are displayed across ambient, chilled and frozen sections in the same area.

Retail industry organisation IGD, which visited the store after it opened, said similar “blended retail” arrangements could also be seen around fruit, desserts and seafood.

Its account described a busy car park and a queue extending around the front of the building during the opening period. The planning application, published before the conversion, described an approximately 20,500 sq ft customer sales area and said the development would create up to 80 jobs.

M&S now describes the completed Foodhall as measuring 22,000 sq ft overall and has confirmed that 80 new employees joined the Godalming team. Targets the family weekly shop

The opening forms part of M&S’s strategy to double the size of its food business by replacing or renewing smaller branches and developing larger Foodhalls that can stock more everyday products.

Its Remarksable Value range has expanded to 175 items, covering staples that the retailer says are benchmarked against competitors’ prices. Value signs are displayed prominently throughout the Godalming store as M&S seeks to challenge its reputation as a destination mainly for premium or occasional purchases.

The branch also has wider aisles, updated signs, refreshed tills and miniature shopping trolleys for children. Opening-day celebrations included a large inflatable Percy Pig and limited-edition Godalming tote bags for early customers.

The Foodhall is open from 8 am until 9 pm from Monday to Saturday and from 10 am until 4 pm on Sundays. It is located at Unit 1, The Wharf Retail Park, Woolsack Way, Godalming, GU7 1DR. store is now trading; its performance will offer M&S an early test of whether a much larger food-only format can persuade more households to complete a full weekly shop with the retailer.