How a former Toys R Us was given new life as an M&S

A former Toys R Us store that has stood vacant for seven years is set to be given a new lease of life.

Babergh District Council approved plans on Wednesday for Marks & Spencer (M&S) to open a new food and clothing store at the Copdock Interchange near Ipswich.

M&S said it would extend the site to transform it into a flagship store with a proposed opening of July 2027.

But how did the site previously look, and what could the future hold?

Toys R Us first launched in the United States in the 1950s when retail was taking off, and it gave children a wealth of toy choices.

In the 1980s, the stores began to arrive in the UK, with locations up and down the country, and one came to the Copdock Interchange in the 1990s.

Those of us who can remember visiting the stores as children were no doubt left in awe of seeing floor-to-ceiling shelves stacked with thousands of different toys.

It was a paradise, but things changed, and the shop had to compete with emerging tech, online shopping and real-life experiences like go-karting and more.

Then in 2018, Toys R Us announced it had gone into administration, putting 3,000 UK jobs at risk.

Copdock's Toys R Us closed in April 2018, after more than 27 years in Suffolk.

The store was emptied and boarded up, with graffiti soon sprayed all over its walls.

A year later, talks about the site's future were held with some potential new buyers, including M&S.

However, things never progressed, and a year later, Ipswich Borough Council's property company bought the site and sought to find a new tenant.

In early 2024, it then emerged that M&S had entered into talks to move into the site, but no official statements were given from the retailer or the council's property firm.

Then, by November last year, the plans were revealed, and Ipswich Borough Council said it had sold the long leasehold to M&S while Suffolk County Council similarly sold the freehold to M&S.

M&S wants to refurbish and extend the former Toys R Us by 2,755 square metres to create a "modern and sustainable retail unit".

The works will include the removal of the existing wall and roof cladding on the site while retaining the steel frame and lower-level blockwork.

A full cover mezzanine will be inserted, and the building height will be increased to accommodate this.

The car park will be re-configured and will include disabled spaces, electric vehicle spaces and cycle parking. There will also be a bus stop on site.

It will create 138 new jobs, and M&S said it would source from local farmers for some of its products.

The amount M&S paid for the site has not been disclosed; however, it was previously announced that the new store would cost £31m to build.

Lynn Scott, head of town planning at M&S, told councillors during the meeting on Wednesday that the new store was expected to bring millions into the area.

"This significant £31m investment at Copdock is estimated to generate over £5m in net additional GVA (gross value added) to the Ipswich and Babergh economy," she said.

M&S has said it would keep the store on Westgate Street open in Ipswich town centre, but the store would be re-sized.

It was raised during a council meeting on Wednesday that retail studies found that new stores often divert a "significant amount of trade" away from existing ones. This sparked questions about a possible "significant adverse impact" on the town centre.

The Westgate store falls under the borough of Ipswich, and Ipswich Borough Council previously said the sale of the lease to M&S was coupled with the retailer retaining the town centre store.

Michael Holt, Babergh councillor for Chadacre, told Wednesday's decision meeting that there was a "big question over the town centre".

"All town centres are suffering, large and small," he said.

"But I don't think it's M&S's responsibility to keep a town centre viable even if they are there already.

"It's up to other retailers to make that decision whether they go in or out of the town centre, and I certainly approve this application in bringing a unit that has been derelict for some time back into use on an existing retail site."

Helen Davies, Babergh councillor for Sproughton & Pinewood, which encompasses the site, told the meeting that ever since she had moved to the ward in 2011, the site had always been "a little bit run down".

"It's lain derelict for ages, and I think we are all well aware that the nature of shopping has changed," she said.

"I try and make an effort to do my shopping physically, but I fail dismally at times, especially now, and it is a lot easier for us to go to an outside retail area because generally you can park pretty easily, so you can do your bigger purchases there.

"The site is rundown, it's fenced off, it would be great to have it back into use, but I also feel we need to make certain that the Ipswich store is protected to a degree."

She said she had felt some promise of this from M&S, but said there was still a risk.

Ipswich Borough Council, prior to the decision, said it was in support of the proposal.

In a letter within the planning documents, its head of planning and development acknowledged that while the new store would have an impact on the town centre, "there are reasons to be optimistic about the direct of travel in the town centre that will keep footfall and investor sentiment high".

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.