MARKS & Spencer has off-loaded its ill-fated Lifestore to Danish furniture retailer Ilva.
Ilva has paid £35m for the 70,000ft sq store in Gateshead, and another site in Thurrock that never opened, M&S confirmed last night.
The Lifestore project was overseen by Vittorio Radice, former boss of Habitat and Selfridges. The Gateshead store cost £14m to fit out.
But after fighting off a £9bn offer for the company by entrepreneur Philip Green, chief executive Stuart Rose decided not to expand the concept.
The Gateshead store was closed earlier this year at a loss understood to be £29m, and stores planned for Thurrock and Kingston never opened. In May, the group reported a 21 per cent fall in homeware sales after it abandoned its Lifestores.
Pre-tax profits for the year to April fell by 19 per cent to £618.5m as the group warned tough economic conditions and stronger high street competition meant its outlook remained challenging.
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