General Chat

What they have to realise, is that the 'more mature' of us don't particularly like replicas of the crimplene dresses our mother's wore, neither do we like showing our midriffs or builder's bums!!
Give me a waistline on my waist, not a waistline that pushes up & emphasises the muffin top, and has to be constantly 'hoicked' up :-|

Thankyou everyone for your comments on this thread. Most of us agree that M&S need to woo back the mature customer, who are only too willing spend in their stores. There are still some good areas, but they could do so much more.

Come on, M&S, it's up to you!

Lynda :-)

I think they are aiming at the wrong age group.

The kids don't like the fluorescent colours, and probably wouldn't shop there anyway.............they would go to Topshop, New Look or Primark.

Why they don't cater for the Baby Boomers I don't know. It is this age group that supposedly have the dosh to spend.

M&S :-(

I think the quality has gone down and the prices have gone up. :-(

I like a lot of the Per Una clothes but the other stuff is quite bland and ordinary. I had a look at the new summer clothes this week and wasn't much impressed.

Love the food, though, do a lot of food shopping there.

I have not brought clothes except undies from M&S for years. Still love food and houshold stuff.

They have been trying to shake it up for years, so nothing is new, but seem to have a big problem listening to what their customers actually want.

For some reason they seem to want to try and attract the younger customer. This is a big mistake. Apart from buying their utility work underwear, no one under 30 would be seen dead in there. At least that is what my two son's partners tell me.

Their core market is probably the over thirties and upwards. You only have to look who is in the shop to see that. The sad thing is that their target market appears to have money to spend but find nothing to spend it on in the shop..

Per una when launched was a joke. The designers and buyers were from another planet. It has improved but a lot of the stock is still inappropriate for it's target market, and prices are on the high side.

On the men's front, when I was working, I used to buy suits and shirts but since retiring, find their selection of more casual clothes to be poor. Quality has also gone down over the years too.

Wife and I still go in there but unless we have gone for something specific, more than often leave without buying anything.

Im not really sure who they are aiming their clothes at nowadays :-(

The Classic styles are not there, nor anything for my age group 30s-50s or for the youngsters or MIL age group. Even the childrens things are not as good as they were 20 odd years ago.

They have really lost their way I think. I was in there today and was out just as quickly.

Teresa

I have to say the white T shirt I bought has fairly long, short sleeves, not elbow length but definitely not cap. :-)

When I buy trousers, they are always from M&S. Have done for years.

Now I wonder why. There is too much fabric in the back thigh, and the lengths are all to cock, as Ann has stated.

I had to alter three pairs bought recently, tailoring the legs to fit, and shortening, the already Short length I had bought. I may aswell have made a pair from scratch, because of the work involved. Anybody less experienced, could not have coped with the job. It is only the inability to be able to source appropriate fabric, that I do not make my own, as I used to do.
I rather feel that unless they listen to somebody, their profits will be down also, for their next trading period.

Julia in Derbyshire

My (male) friend loves M & S T-shirts, but every time he goes in there, they haven't got his size (small). Apparently there's 'no demand' for smaller sizes - there's customer service for you - not :-|
Friend pointed out that he would like one or two - isn't that demand?
He was then told he could go online and buy one.

No he couldn't - he hasn't got a computer .

I find their sizing haywire, once you could guarantee that you would be the same size in all their styles, but not now! I always have a problem with t-shirts being too skimpy on the shoulders, if I go up sizes, they're too big elsewhere :-D. (This isn't just a problem with M&S, have found it in loads of places). I still buy the odd thing in there but not much these days.

What is it with M & S T-shirts?

Why are the sleeves so short? I don't want them down to my elbows, but I don't want cap-sleeves either.

Also why does the body 'twist' when you wash them?

I have always shopped in Marks, in fact was there yesterday and summer ranges have started to come in. Remarked to OH that I thought everything was frumpy, I love Per Una but that was even worse.

I need a new handbag last year they were really nice, but again even ones that were £89 were still old fashioned.

Carol

Yes shoes! What happened to their lovely loafters. Used to be in that soft leather and have a nice heel not a rubber wedge. Have been searching for a black pair for ages. Plenty in some shops but the cost is astronomical,

I resorted only last week to two pairs of comfort trousers with the sewn in front crease. Nice and comfortable if you cover up the elasticated waist.

M&S profits would soar if they only listened to us.

Vera

Why do they have racks of bras and knickers so near to the floor? Find myself almost crawling on my hands and knees to find what I want! :-S

I shop there a lot but I think they should stop trying to appeal to teenager and young twentys, they prefer shops like Zara. I think a lot of youngsters still buy their underwear there, especially the sports underwear. They always seem though to have a lot of the more garish bras lefdt over when the sales come round, maybe if people want bras in the bright colours they go to upmarket underwear shops.

their tights are still good though and their knickers, and there is a good selection of styles.

I am not sure that people want all the bright designs of tops, some of them are quite garish and although not cheap they look cheap.

I still like their T shirts, I was at one of their very large stores last weekend and they had a great choice of colours of plain T shirts. I bought a nice white one which was only £7.50 which I thought was good as it is excellent quality.

Trousers are more of a problem these days as they need to be tried on. I have both short and medium in the wardrobe, some medium taken up, some not, I am five foot two and a half. I always used to buy regulsr length and never needed to try on.

My other whinge is over the classic range trousers. Why do they stitch the crease in down the front, are we too old to be able to press a crease in. I call them old lady's trousers, although I do have a couple of pairs bought in sales as they are good around the house and have slight elastication in the waist.

And shoes, ok lots of people like high heels but some of us like the ballerina style flat shoes, but when I try them on I walk out of them because the front is too low, I dislike shoes that show the tops of your toes, they need to come up half an inch or so.

However, I do still shop there and can usually find something in the casual wear. for anything else I would go to House of Frazer, or Debenhams.

we have an out of town M & S - it is massive, underground car parking, silver service restaurant - extremely spacious and a pleasure to shop in

Racks of clothes packed in too tightly, fight to get item out.
Not a lot of room in aisles anymore - not in the ladies anyway.

Nothing with a made in britian label - well last three items we bought all made in Far East.

I used to love their tailored, 'no fuss' clothes - where are they?

The youngsters will not go there. Have four mid twenties in our family and they all dress pretty conservatively but not M & S.

Because we are old does not mean to say we do not like bright or pastel shades. I have never, even when young, been abled to wear black, navy, brown, purple etc.

When a retailer stops listening to its customers - it is in trouble. No point in trying to sell an item that no one wishes to buy.

Ann, yes, I like the Per Una range, which does seem to have improved lately. It was originally designed for the young market, but actually appeals more to the 50 pluses.
Their sizing is terrible, and very inconsistant across ranges.