STAND by for the swish and sassy "new look" Marks & Spencer experiment in York.

All eyes will be on the brand new 105 staff M&S fashion store which opens on the old Woolworth site in Monks Cross shopping Park, Huntington, on Monday.

There will be a second grand opening with including stilt-walkers and face painters on the following Saturday.

If the "trial concept" works there, then the new signature style will be rolled out to every one of the 400 M&S stores in the UK.

Monday's opening with music, balloons and free bucks fizz, will mark the fourth M&S outlet to appear in York.

It follows a £12 million expansion of the store in Pavement Street in 1997, the establishment of a furniture and childrenswear M&S in Coppergate in March 2003 and the opening of a Simply Food store at Monks Cross in September 2003.

But the new fashion store's manager, 22-year-old Chris Whitfield said that the Monks Cross M&S, along with one in Speke, Liverpool and Westwood Cross, Kent, is completely different.

OUT goes the old uniform of green blouses and blue pinstripe skirts for women and blue shirts and trousers for men.

IN will be trendy all black skirts, blouses and trousers with black fleecy jackets.

These will be in keeping with the dark, vivid colours within the store which includes deep reds and olive greens.

"The lighting is different and so are the displays - we even have what we call our 'cat wall' with dynamic wall displays of the latest fashions amid bold images," The new store will boast a 40-seat Caf Revive, offering hot and cold drinks and light meals, with a collection of fashions for women, men and children, including a full back-to-school range.

Collections such as per una womenswear and Blue Harbour menswear will be available as well as a selection of lingerie in a low-ceiling, carpeted boutique style area.

"There are also fantastic, wonderfully stylish fitting rooms," said Mr Whitfield.

He said that the choice of Monks Cross was inspired by the success of the Simply Food store in the shopping park "which is taking between 40 and 50 per cent more that at the same time last year."

But insisted that there would be no clash between the different Marks & Spencer stores in York.

"We are simply offering an excellent choice with little overlap. It is a more a matter of internal co-operation than competition."

Mr Whitfield, who graduated in business studies at Northumbria University was manager at the M&S Simply Food store in Whitley Bay before taking on his new role.

Updated: 11:10 Thursday, June 30, 2005