M and S blames Brexit for fall in sales. What next?

Never heard such a load of rot!!

That's the trouble with the whole situation. How convenient to have a scapegoat ? Either a financial downturn, Brexit or the wrong sort of weather.

I was in a huge M & S on Tuesday and my daughter wanted to buy undies for which M & S have been renowned.

They had precious little stock, poor selection of sizes and the ones she wanted had disappeared altogether.

So before you start apportioning blame M & S look at your stock, your target audience and how you are not meeting that expectation . Which means people are shopping elsewhere.

We did !

Well of course!
The sun has gone in this afternoon, I blame Brexit,.
Gracie was sick on the carpet, ditto.
How convenient, I don't suppose our rubbish weather in June or their lack of stock could have anything to do with it. I actually think that when the weather is rubbish , people do hold off buying summer stuff because there is little point, but a clothing retailer based in this country should not be taken by surprise by "flaming June".

Very good point Daphne !!

I haven't bought anything in M&S for at least a year, basically because their stock is either aimed at the young who don't shop there or is incredibly frumpy - nothing in between. I want quality well made clothes with some style.

Quite z big M&S in Stratford. was wandering around with a gift voucher desperately trying to find something to buy.

Gave up.

Wonder if I could use it in their Food Hall?

I find that the bra section is well stocked if you are tiny, but medium/large sizes are conspicuous by their absence.M&S need to address their weird sizing policy ( or lack of it.)

Strangely enough I am a big un-fan (is that a word) of M & S clothes BUT I went into their large out of town store in Leicester last week and saw quite a lot of nice things. Sadly it was p****g down and I was in a black mood and didn't fancy anything for summer. Might have a look again in the autumn.

Well it makes a change from blaming Jeremy Corbyn. We usually blame things on our dog, Jack, who is now known as Jeremy-Jack.

Anya that is where I would use it.

Mind you, I have had 2 emails from a furniture retailer urging me to "buy now before Brexit price rises"

They have their sales on in the Arnison centre. I always felt that if you have truly ginormous breasts then they have the bra for you. I'm always apologising to the enormous bosoms hanging beyond the rack when I go to find a matching set of tops and bottoms. They never ever have a matching set and if you ask the elusive floor staff can't imagine what you are talking about. I imagine the people of Durham all have orange knickers and purple bras.

Yes, true, either tiny or really ginormous bras!

It's why I avoid the store when I have DGS3 ... He has a penchant for wearing a ginormous bras on his head !!

I agree about finding underwear that matches. I gave up in their underwear section recently, went to Debenhams and found exactly what I wanted, nice quality and not so expensive as M&S. Like Anya, I also have a voucher which I intend to spend in the food hall before we go away. Should keep the poor dears afloat for a bit until we all disappear down the brexit plug hole!

I had a quick look at the sale yesterday. I don't often wear skirts but I saw one I liked and tried it on. I was surprised when the size 16 was about 2" too small round the waist so checked it against a 14 and it was almost the same size. Naturally they hadn't got any 18s and the size 20 looked massive. If you can't rely on the sizing you're not going to buy. Also, in a shop the size of ours it would be nice to find more than one attractive garment!

Hey Stansgran, my sister is in Esh x

N&G

Last time I was in M&S there wasn't a single thing that I wanted to buy. I used to buy all my tee shirts there, but the ones on offer last month were of very poor quality. I also went to look at the lingerie, I don't know why I bothered, the night dresses were frumpy and old fashioned looking, and none were satin, only Jersey which is far too hot for me! It will be a long time before I go back.

And as my daughter and DiL (early 40s) don't shop there, I wonder who their target group is?

Do M&S have any idea what we think of them? Do they care?

Anya they must have some idea because I've contacted them on several occasions on their live chat line. To be fair, the person on the other end is merely a telesales advisor, but when I offer a suggestion or ask a question all I get is, "We have no intention of doing that at present," or "I understand your frustration, but you can order online" - NO, I want to go into a store and have the selection available to try on or feel the fabric etc. (Their website is atrocious anyway, compared with John Lewis.)

Like others have said, you give up eventually and don't go back for a long time, so it beats me why they try to find lame excuses for their slump in sales.

Yes, I've fed back several times to an obviously disinterested person at the other end of a 'customer support line' !!

Just read in the Times Business section that 'M&S's drop in general merchandise sales in the 13 weeks to July 2nd (my emphasis) ...... so nothing to do with Brexit, as we already knew.

Steve Rowe, their new chief exec., goes on to say '....we think we are doing the right thing for our business and for customers'

Right.....????

I am off today and was landing to go to m&s don't think I'll bother now!!

I have been searching, unsuccessfully, for some new clothes. Used to buy most things in M and S, but have not found anything i would be seen dead in fir about a year now, so imagine my delight yesterday when i found no less than four very nice tops, all reduced in their sale! Only snag was there must have been at least 50+ customers in the queue with only 5 staff serving! Since i injured my back, i cannot stand still for more than a few minutes, so i had to pit them back!

Unthinkable as it is, if they continue along their current strategy of so many different in-house brands, all with different sizing etc, which i find so confusing, with emphasis on younger styles and customers, neglecting the pleas of their loyal customers of many years, they will go the way of BHS and Woolworths! - and serve em right! Their food standards are dropping too, I bought a joint of pulled pork recently and it was like trying to chew string!! Threw it out, completely inedible and when i complained, it was implied that maybe i had not followed the instructions correctly, "as it is a very popular dish"!!!

I would hate to see them doing the 'wrong thing' then....!