M&S Simply Food branches to bite the dust?

Bad news for posh types in my home town of Newcastle, Staffordshire.
For they'll soon be slumming it in Morrisons with the rest of us when it comes to grocery shopping.
Why? Because Marks and Spencer (or M&S as it's known these days) is pulling the plug on its Simply Food branch in the town.
The shop, on Castle Walk, hasn't been there for very long, and whenever I've walked past (or popped in to treat myself to a very rare snack-sized Melton Mowbray) it's been heaving.
But the economic downturn continues to hit the high street hard.
Newcastle, like other towns including Burslem, Stone, Stafford and Hanley, has just lost its branch of Woolworths. It's still staggering to imagine that 27,000 Woolies workers nationwide have lost their jobs.
Now another name is about to disappear in Newcastle, meaning 19 staff are facing possible redundancy.
I'm getting fed up of all this doom and gloom, to be honest. The sorry demise of Wedgwood at Barlaston, near Stone, is bad enough. Then there's Spode, JCB laying off hundreds of workers, and plenty more companies cutting back or going under.
Who knows where it will end? Towns like Newcastle can't afford to lose these high street giants. There's a handful of independent retailers, but it's the big boys that pull in shoppers with their hard-earned cash.
I hope M&S can be convinced to change its mind and keep the branch open.