Marks & Spencer (Department Stores)

...FEBRUARY 2001

Marks & Spencer can be seen on every High Street and in every shopping centre. I used to be a frequent customer but not anymore.

I can remember my parents buying me clothes from Marks & Spencer from the early 1970s. Although of good quality I was too young to appreciate the clothes. All I wanted to do was to wear the silly T-shirts, which my school colleagues wore.

My parents always said ...
...smart at all times. That meant wearing M & S clothes. Luckily the store only caters for people of near perfect figures. So subconsciously I put on weight and I never had wear M & S clothes ever again.

Nowadays nothing is affordable for me and my wife at M & S. The only people buying goods seemed to be tourists. Even during sales, prices were more expensive than other stores.

I grant that the quality of goods is excellent. ... more

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FEBRUARY 2001

Marks & Spencer can be seen on every High Street and in every shopping centre. I used to be a frequent customer but not anymore.

I can remember my parents buying me clothes from Marks & Spencer from the early 1970s. Although of good quality I was too young to appreciate the clothes. All I wanted to do was to wear the silly T-shirts, which my school colleagues wore.

My parents always said that, as the son of a doctor, I should look smart at all times. That meant wearing M & S clothes. Luckily the store only caters for people of near perfect figures. So subconsciously I put on weight and I never had wear M & S clothes ever again.

Nowadays nothing is affordable for me and my wife at M & S. The only people buying goods seemed to be tourists. Even during sales, prices were more expensive than other stores.

I grant that the quality of goods is excellent. But we have to live on a budget. Why spend £40 on a jumper when you can buy a decent one from Peacocks at around £5.

When I was working in Oxford Street I tried buying my lunch from the Baker Street store on a few occasions. I used to buy 2 packets of sandwiches and a drink, which set me back about £4.50. This is simply not feasible on a long-term basis.

One piece of trivia is that the doors of the Orchard Street/Baker Street store are the most used in the UK.

The food hall sells products of excellent quality but are too expensive for the average shopper. The home furnishing section again is good but cheaper prices for basically the same products are found at John Lewis. The cosmetics are also of great quality but Boots can undercut the prices. Claire's Accessories in turn can undercut Boots prices.

I have not shopped in M & S for about 2 years now. May be the bad press reports have subconsciously influenced me. But the store cannot offer me anything given the budget I have to live to.

Since the early 1970s M & S have been the leading UK for over 25 years. The management then decided to open stores abroad. The stores in America were a sales disaster. The Canadian stores had limited success but were closed down. The company spent a lot of money looking for suitable property sites in Germany. Only the Paris store seemed to be a partial success. But the store had to adapt its UK policy eg French people was partial to raw jelly cubes. It simply did not do enough market research.

The company made huge losses from its foreign ventures. Meanwhile in the UK stores such as Matalan, Peacocks, Gap, New Look were popping up and slowly eroding the customer base of M & S. The management were too blind and complacent to see this change in shoppers' habits coming.

Last year the company started advertising its products for the first time. It was once said that its products were so good that there was no need to advertise. Only recently have credit cards been accepted. The store card has an exorbitant APR. Its financial products such as unit trusts have fared ordinarily.

Soon the share price slid from over 600p to 170p. The successful chief executive Richard Greenbury retired. The Belgian Luc van de Velde was brought in from Europe to arrest the slide. He gave himself two years to turn things around. The 2000 summer Autograph range of clothing proved to be a failure. The sales figures for Christmas 2000 were disappointing. The company has stopped doing business with its UK suppliers. Foreign suppliers have been given contracts to reduce losses. Even George Davis of Next and Asda fame has been brought in to design new outfits. Gimmicks perhaps?

The share price has recently risen to 230p. M & S is now redefining itself as an upmarket store.

Will this strategy work?

UPDATED October 2005

TAKING THE PLUNGE

Despite my criticisms of the company I recently became an M&S shareholder. I bought them at 342p. I feel that it's best to buy shares in companies which one uses on a regular basis. There's always a nice buzz on entering the store knowing that you own part of it. Refer to my Barclays Stockbrokers op.

MARKING A SPENCER FOR MURDER

I have always believed that Diana was murdered. The night before her murder she said that she had a major announcement to make. The next she was gone. It just doesn't add up. I am currently cogitating whether the murderers of Princess Grace also murdered Diana.

I have mentioned my interest in UFOs in other ops. There have been many instances of whistleblowers about to reveal all to the media. But they mysteriously died just before telling their story. No-one has ever been caught for these murders.

The crack American unit the Blue Berets have the authority to use terminal force on any UFO witnesses. I have read many reports of witnesses convinced that they saw an UFO only to later change their story. Obviously they had been intimidated by someone sinister. It would not surprise me if there was an UK black world equivalent of the Blue Berets.

Is there a link between Diana and UFOs? Well Diana allegedly slept with JFK Jnr in the US. He was murdered by someone tampering with his plane. The reason for his murder was that he had started to investigate his father's death.

There are many conspiracy theories regarding JFK's death. The most outlandish was that he was about to reveal the existence of UFOs to the world. If this was the case then Majestic 12 murdered him. MJ12 is now defunct but probably exists under another name. Is there an UK equivalent of MJ12? Did they murder Diana? Whatever the result of the swifty Stevens inquiry I shall always believe that Diana was murdered.

M&S FOOD

Whilst growing up in Hull my parents usually fed me M&S food. They must be dismayed that I now regularly frequent Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut etc. Talk about dumbing down. I do have a fondness for M&S sandwiches. M&S food is generally very tasty and expensive but calorific. Refer to my M&S food op.

WHITEFRIARGATE STORE, HULL

I spent many a shopping trip in my childhood here. I remember rebelling about having to wear their trousers as all of my school mates were wearing jeans. I preferred being working class. On another occasion my parents made me try on trousers in front of everyone. I really wanted to use the changing rooms. In those days I was too shy to drop my trousers in public.

HIGH STREET KENSINGTON STORE, LONDON W8

This really is a lovely store. It is very spacious and there is hardly anything to criticise. The lower ground floor sells food, drinks, flowers, newspapers, magazines and kitchen utensils etc. The other floors sell womenswear, menswear, kidswear, cosmetics and home furnishings. There is also a Cafe Revive, Bureau de Change and toilet. The clothing aisles are quite spacious to walk in. But the food hall does get a little clogged up at busy times.

SHAREHOLDER VOUCHERS

I was delighted to receive a carnet of shareholder vouchers recently. These vouchers are all redeemable in store:

GBP 5 vouchers for womenswear and menswear.

GBP 10 voucher for home.

GBP 3.50 voucher for Cafe Refesh.

GBP 2.50 voucher for kidswear.

GBP 2 voucher for food hall.

I always thought that M&S never gave out any shareholder perks. So the distribution of vouchers is relatively new but very welcome. It certainly makes investors think twice before selling them.

I am one of those folk who often buys shares just to obtain a discount. But I am penny wise and pound foolish.

BA shares give you 10% discount off flights.

The Restaurant Group shares give you 25% off meals at Garfunkels, Chiquito, Frankie & Bennys, Caffe Uno and Est Est Est restaurants.

Peacocks shares give you 10% discount at Peacocks, Bon Marche and the Fragrance Shop.

The look on the faces of the staff always gets me whenever I present a shareholder voucher.

M&S VOUCHERS

M&S vouchers can be bought as gifts and presumably come in many denominations. This jogs a childhood memory for me. My father deals with pharmaceutical reps every day of the week. It is quite a symbiotic relationship. The reps give some sales spiel to the doctors about their new wonder drug. The doctors in return receive gifts after prescribing the drugs to the naive patient. A large percentage of the artefacts at home are pharmaceutical freebies.

Anyway back to the story. One rep was very pleased with my father and wanted to make a financial gift as a thank you present. Ever wary of the taxman my father refused the bung but asked for M&S vouchers instead. The rep gave him GBP 200 worth of vouchers. My father spent this on 20 ties, a few shirts and pairs of socks. My mother got narked and eventually my father bought her a dress. When I asked for something he simply brushed me away. Rest in peace, daddy.

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

My upbringing was quite sheltered with strict parenting and schooling. The happiest days were when my father was a hospital doctor. Money was short in the 1960s but my father put his family before his career. He often took me around the hospital wards and introduced me to his patients. I got into the habit of saying 'Hello ladies" whenever I entered the ward.

In the evening he used to play with me before mixing with other colleagues in the same hospital residence. On Saturdays we did our weekly groceries shop from the lower ground floor of Hammonds. Sundays were spent playing in a local park. Simple but memorable.

PEAK PRACTICE

Things changed forever when my father became a GP. He had far less hours to work and came into more money than he had ever imagined. He became arrogant overnight. He began to take his family for granted. By the late 1960s more Bengali doctors had moved into Hull. My father's social life became his priority.

PHARMACEUTICALS RUINED MY LIFE

Being a GP meant that my father came into regular contact with pharmaceuticals. The reps basically wined and dined him and occasonally my mother 4-5 weeknights. I hardly saw my parents in the evenings. When they had got back from their do I was probably in bed. School runs in the mornings were generally carried out in silence. As a result I became withdrawn, isolated and a loner and lost touch with reality. My father did not get to know me at all. He still does not know me. The loneliness I felt was one of the factors in my later suicide attempt.

I did not socialise with any children of white doctors in Hull. My only mates were Mithu and Sailendra who were children of Indian doctors. It was equally tough for all of us. Mithu fell out and lost touch with his family a few years ago. Sailendra emigrated to the States and vowed never to return to the UK.

A few years ago I invested in an European pharmaceuticals ishare but I lost out on the deal. So perhaps I should have practised what I preached.

END VIVISECTION

Global pharmaceuticals are in the business of money-making first and foremost. If they lowered their prices then medication could be affordable to 3rd world countries. They are so profit-driven that they often invent illnesses to develop new medication for.

I don't agree at all with animal testing. Research has shown that a drug produces different reactions in rats and mice. So a more significant reaction would be produced in humans. The best solution is to develop drugs via computer modelling.

I believe that millions of animals were unnecessarily killed during the foot and mouth outbreak a few years ago. No wonder the Government resisted all efforts to hold a public enquiry into the fiasco.

I would rather see friends and relatives suffer rather than be cured by medication tested on animals. Mind you, I would like to see certain relatives kick the bucket full stop.

I believe that there are alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs. The Nutricentre sells a huge range of alternative medicines. I feel that in the future more people will embrace alternative therapies such as naturopathy, acupuncture and spiritual healing etc.

How many GPs do not think of pharmaceutical perks when doling out prescriptions?

ARE WE BEING HOODWINKED?

Some time back I saw an episode of the X-Files where a new drug was deliberately suppressed by the Government. I wondered if this could take place in reality?

Suppose a cure for cancer, say cancell, was developed. What would that mean to the pharmaceuticals? They would not be able to develop any more anti-cancer drugs and all research would come to a halt. Their revenue would be reduced affecting share prices etc. Some may be forced out of business. Given the millions of pounds poured into cancer research surely a cure must have been found by now.

Has the Government suppressed any medical cures simply for economic reasons?

ALL CHANGE AT M&S

Since the early 1970s M&S has been the leading clothes retailer. The bubble burst a few years ago. Sales fell affecting the share price.

So a few changes were made e.g shutting all European stores, finding cheaper manufacturers etc. These changes were partially successful and the share price improved.

After being at the top of the tree for so long the management became complacent. Buying trends had changed and customers preferred cheaper clothing. I for one shop regularly at Peacocks and Primark. While M&S have maintained their standards Britain has generally dumbed down

I like the new green carrier bags. The previous white ones were too boring. The Autograph and Per Una ranges are short-term gimmicks. It is nice to see M&S being advertised in the media. Before they were too arrogant to advertise. The store ambience is always very pleasant.

M&S have no problems in attracting customers into the stores. The problem seems to be that not many of them actually make a purchase. If M&S lowered their standards and prices then customers would buy more.

M&S recently stopped advertising in the Daily Mail due to bad press. But surely it is middle-class Britain whom M&S need to attract. I mentioned the Daily Mail advert ban to one of the managers but she did not know anything about it.

M&S TRIVIA

Some time back my aunty had a rare day off from her two jobs. So she decided to splash out at M&S. She loaded a trolley to the brim but forgot to take her credit card with her. So she had to put all the food items back on the shelves.

Diana also once forgot to take her credit card. But a friend helped her out and paid the M&S bill for her.

Kym Marsh has been spotted in the Covent Garden branch.

Back in my student days I absentmindedly put a pair of shoes in my bag after trying them on. I was just about to walk out of the door before I realised that i had not paid for them. I profusely apologised to the till operator who looked bemused at my guilt confession.

Back in the 1970s my father was taking ages trawling around the store. So me and my mother were waiting behind the till. I then showed my mother with my hands how ample a customer's bosum was. The till operator happened to look round at that precise moment and burst into paralytic laughter.

The chief executive of M&S is Stuart Rose. He recently attended London fashion week.

James Major, son of former PM John, used to work for M&S. He then had an affair with a married M&S boss. He later married Emma Noble a hostess on Challenge TV's "Bruce's Price is Right." One of her colleagues Emma Steadman has always impressed me.

MANDA & SHEILA (YOUR M&S)

Sheila's best friend at school was Manda. She was quite a jovial character with a nice database of jokes. She read the Wigan Observer whilst Sheila read the Leader. It was Manda who told me that Sheila's middle name was Evelyn.

Sheila's other friends included Julie, Jane and Angela. I believe that Julie later joined the choir. Jane did not like men. Angela was a secretary before working for a wildlife park. Her throat was always dry.

Sheila had a married friend who regularly spoke to a ghost. Her university friends included Cathy, Jo, Pauline and Cath. The last friend I saw her with was Debbie.

I do have a serious obsession with Sheila. One reason was that her mother attended Belvedere School. Coincidentally I did as well. It was meant to be.

Why didn't I go for other girls? My Bengali upbringing meant that I was to love only one girl in this life. I built my world around her. After she rejected my love there was nothing for me to live for resulting in my later suicide attempt. Perhaps Sheila is the new Diana.

Years From Now - Dr Hook.

 

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