What is happening to M&S ?

[ebikeerwidnes]

Warrington has a population of over 200,000.
We DID have 3 M&S stores........
• A large town centre one which was really handy for the bus terminus.
• A VERY large one on the north side.
• A medium one to the south...mainly food (with a good bakery).

They closed the town centre one a few years ago (the rates must have been crippling).
This week they closed the southern one and announced closure the BIG one on the north side.
Our nearest M&S is now 20 miles away in Manchester or Liverpool .......can't see many people travelling to them.

There is one in Widnes - closer than Manchester or Liverpool
Free parking as well

 

[Dave7]

There is one in Widnes - closer than Manchester or Liverpool
Free parking as well

Does it sell a full range of clothing etc ?

 

[Dave7]

There is one in Widnes - closer than Manchester or Liverpool
Free parking as well

Just googled it. Apparently that one is for the chop as well.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Just googled it. Apparently that one is for the chop as well.

Oh bugger - now where do I go for some top up Christmas presents for SWMBO???

 

[VelvetUnderpants]

There was an M&S clothing and retail outlet in Solihull which closed around a year ago. They have moved to a retail park on the outskirts near Shirley, I'm guessing the ground rent was cheaper and customers don't have to pay extortionate parking charges.

Sadly, some smaller retail outlets have suffered and have now closed or moved to the retail park.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I knew someone many years ago who was in marketing in Littlewoods Chain Stores.
They were having massive problems at the time because Matalan had come along and stolen all their customers by selling apparently similar clothes for much lower prices.
He said he could take a shirt from Littlewoods and one from Matalan and show a dozen reasons why the Littlewoods one was better - but no-one cared because they looked the same. Apparently the Matalan ones wouldn;t last as long but they lasted long enough for people to not notice.
M&S countered this by their reputation and by being though of as higher quality than Littlewoods but it still affected them.


Littlewoods went downhill gradually from there and eventually gave up and concentrated on their Mail Order and Web businesses - now called "Very" mostly

But M&s have soldiered on but the web has hit all the high street shops

I can't see then existing in their current form for more than a few more years.

High Street rents really need to change somehow - the shops are struggling but the rents stay the same

I even read something a few years ago where some landlords were financially better off leaving an empty shop empty rather than finding a new tenant.

 

[ianrauk]

I popped onto M&S with my partner yesterday as she wanted to get a specific babies coat, which she got. I also picked up an unbranded baseball cap.
Have to say, the quality of both items are very good, but a little on the pricier side.

 

[Mike_P]

M&S do own outright a number of stores so those are ones that probably definitely will stay. An old style shopping arcade full of small shops akin to a market burnt down in Harrogate and the site stood derelict for some time surrounded by plain timber boarding which one day was painted M&S green and a new store was built. The old one became a BHS until they failed and is now a Primark.

 

[Gwylan]

Don’t forget that a small selection of M&S food is now available in Costa Coffee

Already have. BP station on the A61 at Pannal south of Harrogate. A bit odd as they have a Simply Food on a small retail park (former Vauxhall dealer site) only a short distance to the north on the A61

Trivia, my wife's grandfather designed Pannal golf club.

 

[alicat]

R4 You and Yours have an interview with M&S's head of property in a few mins - about why they are closing stores. I'm looking forward to hearing it.

 

[alicat]

Trailer for the interview:

"We examine the future of Marks and Spencer, once a giant of the High Street in towns and cities across the UK. Three years ago, the company announced plans to shut 110 stores and earlier this month it said it was speeding up the closure of almost 70 of them. However, M&S is opening more than 100 new Simply Food stores - many of them outside traditional high street locations. Our reporter Bob Walker talks to people in Newark, Nottinghamshire, who lost their M&S in 2019. We also hear from the company's property director, Sacha Berendji."

 

[alicat]

Headlines - the days of the traditional high st department store have gone and it's costly to invest in older buildings. M&S have to go where the customers are on a site-by-site basis. Current sales are higher for food but profit is spread evenly because of higher margins on non-food. They are moving to leasing premises rather than owning them because they consider it more flexible.

I'm still none the wiser why my newish and well-used M&S Simply Food closed....

The feature starts at 12.15pm and the interview with the head of property at 12.21pm.

 

[Dave7]

Headlines - the days of the traditional high st department store have gone and it's costly to invest in older buildings. M&S have to go where the customers are on a site-by-site basis. Current sales are higher for food but profit is spread evenly because of higher margins on non-food. They are moving to leasing premises rather than owning them because they consider it more flexible.

I'm still none the wiser why my newish and well-used M&S Simply Food closed....

The feature starts at 12.15pm and the interview with the head of property at 12.21pm.

Please keep us informed.

 

[alicat]

Please keep us informed.

The summary of the feature is contained in post 87, which you quoted. Sorry if that wasn't clear from the timeline.

 

[Dave7]

The summary of the feature is contained in post 87, which you quoted. Sorry if that wasn't clear from the timeline.

ahhh got it. Sorry, I misunderstood.