Does buying goods here make them better ? (Marks and Spencers in general)

Name: Scooobydooo

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Product:	Marks and Spencers in general
Date:	24/01/04 (523 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice Carrier Bags, Lots of Staff, Plenty of Leaflets

Disadvantages: Dowdy, Expensive, food is same as cheap food

Well the other whilst shopping for new clothes, I popped into a few local stores and one of them was Marks and Spencers.

My local one is in Warrington and it is a large store, based in the town centre. If you want to and can drive there is the one at the Gemini Centre in Warrington. However this is situated near to Ikea and local people tend to stay away at the weekend due to everybody and his army turning up. Traffic is a nightmare so I am doing my opinion on my one in town.

The history of Marks and Spencers goes back to 1884 when a Mr Michael Marks started up a little shop as a Penny Bizarre. I wonder what he would think about all the problems that Marks and Spencers got to big for their own boots. In 1997 The chairman Greenbury got the profits up to over 1Billion. Quite soon after the big crash was about to come, he left it like a sinking ship but he got a nice payout. At this time I was working at Marks and Spencers.

Front layout of the store
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A lot has happened to Marks and Spencers in the last few years so I popped in to see if there were any drastic changes. Had it really improved?

Access to the store is via the shopping mall or from the other side of the store off the street, both have automatic and push doors so it is easily accessible for people with trolley and mobility scooters.

Once your inside the store, you have to circumnavigate yourself around a wooden floor. All the different departments are clearly labelled. The layout is generally very good and there are things on rails all at about shoulder level so you can look at them. Unlike BHS there is space between the rails so that you can walk inbetween the clothes without knocking all the displays over.

There are mirrors situated in various places around the store so that you can have a look at your self. There are also changing rooms with quite large cubicles which are good. There are displays on the walls
showing you what you can mix and match your clothes with.

Departments
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Mens Clothing
Womens Clothing
Womens Lingerie
Kids Clothing
Food hall
Gift Section
Perfume and Makeup
Accessories
Shoes

Mens Clothing
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I very rarely visit this part as it is quite dated with chinos and formal suits. This is alright for a buisnessman. But do I really want my husband to be looking like a throwback to the 80s. I do like their slippers as they are expensive but they are well made. It is not a shop that I would buy clothes in.

Womens Clothing
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Now George at Asda was brought in to do a range at M&S and unfortunately it has not worked. Lets be honest, they were nice clothes but why should I buy clothes at 4 or 5 times the prices when I can go down to Asda and get something a bit cheaper. I do like some of the clothes but still they are stuck in the dark ages and need to be brought up to date more. I went in there today and I was just shaking my head.

Womens Lingerie
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At least here you can be measured, shame it is not discreet and normally you can guarantees they will tell you your size. Also when you buy something personal and are queing up for it, they take out the bra and check the sizes, oh please! I love their range of slips. I always think it pays to have nice undergarments as if you feel nice under, you will shine on top. They do a nice selection of bras and knickers but again these can be pricey. They also do dressing gowns and nighties and these I found were too expensive, so I left the store and bought similar products £30 cheaper.

Ground Floor
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The food hall is situated on the left hand side as you walk through from the shopping mall and is very well staffed with people. All wearing the Marks and Spencers Uniform.

It is around dinner time and there are a lot of workers who h
ave come in for a sandwhich and some crisps and this is near the tills for the quickness for those who want to get a bite to eat and get out as quick as they can.

The veg and fruit is situated on on large stands. Now I think everyone must have been in there in the morning as the stock was running low on almost everything. They have a selection of normal cooking vegs and veg you can cook in the microwave.

Around the side is various freezers with frozen foods in and in the centre is more standalone stands with bread, household products. Also in the centre of the store is chilled cabinets with readymade food. One of my favourite is the chickens they do. They are absolutely gorgeous and if I have a few spare quid going, I treat myself to them. However on walking around the store I notice the price has shot up on the food side.

The Tills are situated at the end and there are quite a few girls on the tills. There are express tills for a basket, less than 5 items and ones for people who do a full shop there.

I buy a chicken and go through the tills and there are leaflets advertising the hampers and flowers that they can order in store. However you can also ring up for these. There are also leaflets on their new catalogues and credit cards and finance packages that they now do. However they are all thrown on a table mixed up so I do not really bother to look at them.

Clothing, is just before the food hall, together with the accessories which includes jewellery and watches. I look around the clothes and look at the prices and thought they were still too expensive, a jumper similar to the one I have bought is £13 more. The clothes are better than what they were but not much. They also do seasonal clothing for Christmas and holdiays.

I go upstairs to the next floor and find the lingeries departments are right in front of the escalators but it is very easy for anyone to move around again. They have a selection of clothing n
ighties, pjs and undergarments. I am looking at this and thinking £60-£70 for a dressing gown and pjs is a bit much and I move on.

As you move around the store there is the childrens department and to be honest if I could saying anything about the clothes, It would have to be that they are very predictable marks. Good school range and reasonably priced.

Now the stores do home furnishings but these I find are only at the larger stores. Our town centre one does not. The gemini store does and it offers things like bedding and is quite pricey. You can order furniture from them also. They also have a good internet site which is currently offering 10% off items bought. They also sell everything you would need to set up a house, sofas, all sorts of furniture and kitchenware but again it is pricey so I tend not to look at this much.

At the back end of the store is the mens department. I looked around. Some suits were £180. Crikes I thought to myself, I found some of them to be old fashioned and not very well cut. There are some nice items, but things like jumpers and the cardigans they had were so 80s...

I come back down stairs and start to head off towards the main entrance when I see all the things they have out. I think they are nice and not badly priced. I buy my gran the usual bottle of port and a tin of shortcake biscuits which in total cost me around £12.

You can now pay by credit card or debit card now, they have opened up the policy on that. They do not retain the same attitude they used to...

Has it really changed, not much... I walk out of the store with my chicken in a food bag, white with marks and spencers written on in green and my gifts in the usual green bag.

Would I recommend it, No I still do not think they have made enough changes to bring in more younger people. The prices are way to high... I do like some of their food, well the chicken and the nougats to be exact, but why should I spend
a fortune their when a lot of food there is only repackaged for marks. This happened to me in the 80s when I was a Marks Girl and would shop their. I swore by their food and bought something which had a bone in it and cracked my tooth. I told them they had to pay for the damage, in the end they gave me the name of the manufacturer who I got my money back off, but was disgusted that I was paying £4 for something made by the same company only cost £1 at Asda, it was just repacked. After this I very rarely shop there. I also have worked for their call centres and it was a sham. I am not bitter about this store as if it was properly managed it could be a sucess but whilst they keep paying fat cats at the top, this little kitten will not go there.

Customer Services
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Marks and Spencer
Baker Street
London

or visit their website MarksandSpencers.co.uk

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