What is happening to M&S ?

[byegad]

Lady Byegad used to buy all her undies and blouses from M&S, but stopped 10 or so years ago due to the quality falling off. She also used to shop their for some 'treat' foods, on occasion, up to her brain abscess in 2019. We now have a regular fortnightly Ocado delivery, as she no longer drives. Ocado offer some M&S foods and we do buy some each time.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

Last time I bough any clothes from M&S was around 5 years ago. I was on my way to a meeting in to and someone spilled something on my trousers on the bus there. Had to pop into the nearest clothes shop and my another pair.

I use their Food outlets frequently as they are placed in locations I have worked in the last decade or so. I do like their Welsh cakes. Unfortunately they don’t sell them in Scotland so I have started making my own.

 

[Alex321]

There was a time we regularly used M&S for clothes, particularly at sale time.

But we haven't been in to the nearest one to us (Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff) for quite a few years now, even though we will call in the Tesco or Decathlon on the same site a few times a year.

The only use we make of M&S nowadays is the small M&S food outlets in motorway service stations, when we will get milk & something for a quick meal when we get home after we have been away for a few days.

 

[si_c]

I shop at M&S regularly, at least weekly, usually more often than that. Admittedly for food, but their food stores are doing very well compared to their clothing, which whilst it was good quality couldn't compete with fast fashion as noted above, so they reduced the quality to compete on price. A poor decision overall IMO, but it looks like they may be moving back towards higher quality now.

They can't compete with the cheapest shops which is where the bulk of clothing spend seems to be these days so they are making the sensible choice to restructure their business to match the current retail environment. I was sad when the nearest full size M&S to me closed a few years ago, but it was always empty and in an area where footfall wouldn't have favoured them. Mostly I was sad that going in on a sunday I could always get heavily discounted food on yellow sticker.

They opened a closer food only shop in a much better location a few months later, and another two within about a 15 minute drive a year or so after that. Ordering online for click & collect is now easier than going to the shop and hoping they would have my size - they wouldn't so I'd have to order and then wait a week to go back.

 

[Juan Kog]

We now have a regular fortnightly Ocado delivery, as she no longer drives. Ocado offer some M&S foods and we do buy some each time.

We are long time Ocado customers ( usually every 3 to 4 weeks*) we definitely noticed a drop in quality when Ocado split from Waitrose and went over to M&S food . * Aldi between Ocado deliveries.

 

[presta]

Marks & Sparks floundered when they tried to carry on selling goood quality products at a fair price whilst everyone else sold cheap rubbish. Times changed when our wealth increased and far eastern labour reduced prices to the point where people could afford to throw clothes away when they're out of fashion rather than when they're worn out. At best, fashion is mindless and sheepish, at worst it's an environmental catastrophe.

In a market where people throw stuff away when they've worn it once or twice, nobody's going to pay extra for clothes that last years.

Back in the days when I wore suit n tie every day plus evenings I would buy from them with confidence. Then they started to look like they came from the cheapest Asian source possible.

I've only bought one suit in my life, and that's an M&S one I bought for my grandmother's funeral 34 years ago. Weddings & funerals are about the only time it comes out.

Afraid to admit they make stuff for older people.

I've been buying grandad clothes from M&S since I was in my teens.

Colchester has a population of 198,000 but a couple of months ago Marks and Spencer closed their High Street store.
The next day they opened in a new-build unit on a large retail park approx 3 miles to the west of Colchester centre.
I can see the logic in them moving : instead of paying through the nose to park in Colchester customers can now drive to the retail park and park for free.
The closure of the High Street store caused a lot of controversy and was heavily reported in the local paper but lets face it, M and S is a business and not a charity and should not be obliged to continue operating a store that potentially was unprofitable.

Tollgate? It's not a surprise, Coop moved to Peartree years ago. I suppose Chelmsford will be next.

We don't have a 'proper' M&S here in Braintree, it's an M&S 'Outlet' in the Freeport mall on the edge of town. It sells end of line left-overs at a discount, which is OK, but left-overs tend to be the sizes and products that nobody wants. There's a separate food hall a few hundred yards away on an adjacent site.

 

[Low Gear Guy]

Can someone explain the attraction of M & S food? It is usually more expensive than supermarkets and there are limited organic or vegan options.

We occasionally use the food units attached to garages or stations but this is not our preferred choice.

 

[cougie uk]

Things change. Department stores are losing business to online.
I've never been a fan of real shopping - my wife did buy me some 'lovely' jeans from M&S - ooh about 25 years ago - that had a fully elasticated waist. Like you'd get for a toddler. I don't think I've had anything from there since.
She is pretty much keeping the Cheshire Oaks store going though so Warringtonians can always find stuff there.

Oh and the Percy Pigs - I first found them whilst waiting for a train in the Netherlands. They were selling them for a euro from a vending machine. A year or two later I found them in M&S but rebranded and about three times the price !

 

[fossyant]

Can someone explain the attraction of M & S food? It is usually more expensive than supermarkets and there are limited organic or vegan options.

We occasionally use the food units attached to garages or stations but this is not our preferred choice.

There isn't, other than the meal deals which are quite good. We'll go in for yellow sticker stuff as it's then at Tesco prices or slightly cheaper. Most food is overpriced.

 

[fossyant]

I always remember as a kid thinking of the place as drab - always drab clothes. It's stuck and I never buy clothes from M&S.

 

[Sharky]

Afraid to admit they make stuff for older people.

That's always been my impression. In the post www2 years, it was our parent's (& grandparents )generation that shopped there. Us "baby boomers", wouldnt go near M&S, choosing to go to fashionanable shops (Remember Lord John, Carnaby Street and others?). Now though, I have aged and although now in the "grandparent's" generation, I still think I am in the rebellious sixties years and still think of M&S in the same way. M&S are never my first choice when needing new clothes.

 

[Dave7]

Can someone explain the attraction of M & S food? It is usually more expensive than supermarkets and there are limited organic or vegan options.

We occasionally use the food units attached to garages or stations but this is not our preferred choice.

As fossyant says "not much".
They do cans of beef curry, chicken curry which are full of chunky meat......but are expensive unless on offer. Problem being its a long way for us to go just to check for offers.

 

[Illaveago]

It's down to poor management again . They lost their way and went down the cheap poor quality route and so lost a lot of their traditional customers. The shoes I just wore out on my bike ride some minutes ago was purchased in an M&S. I have had them for years . Some of the lining on the inside has worn through but the exterior is fine . They are made from leather and not horrible plastic . I haven't bought any clothes from M&S for years. I think the last things were 2 pairs of jeans . The stitching came apart so I don't trust their clothes any more . I do like their hot cross buns though !

 

[Mike_P]

As someone with a food allergy M&S use to be good but now the range is so limited my "spend" has plummeted. I put "spend" in quotes as I normally have a continuous set of gift vouchers from Christmas, TopCashback and the credit card to mean everything is free. Their slippers still seem to last well compared to others.

 

[classic33]

Everyday's a school day on that one, I always thought that Dunnes was the Irish version.

Dunne's is more Asda than M&S.