Metropol

The PO strike today didn't close my local crown post office, although there was only one member of staff behind the counter and they couldn't provide the passport check service.

The Range has acquired my local BHS. The Qatari owned BHS website launches later this week.

Martin Phillp wrote:The Range has acquired my local BHS. The Qatari owned BHS website launches later this week.

Didn't post this earlier on in the thread but I was at one of the final group of BHS stores which closed on 28th August - Cribbs Causeway.

The final push was a firesale where you could either wander around the (already pretty decimated) store and pick things up for pence, or you could just say 'fuck it' and get given a big box which you could fill for a tenner.

I have honestly never been so embarrassed to be a customer in a shop ever given the conduct of some of my fellow shoppers - you had people arguing that they should be able to keep on going as long as they could balance things on the box rather than make it fit within, you had others almost come to blows over who got to sweep the contents off a clothes rail first. I've seen better behaviour in shops during the 2011 riots.

The staff were a combination of taking it in good humour or, having lost their jobs following chronic mismanagement and knowing that there is no one to complain to, essentially told them that they were taking the piss and they could fuck off.

So where will the axe fall on the half dozen M&S stores?

barcode wrote:So where will the axe fall on the half dozen M&S stores?

My guess is that it'll be some Outlet locations.

American Apparel's UK business goes into administration
Fashion retailer’s 13 UK stores and some other European operations likely to close as US operation seeks buyer

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... instration

It would help if their clothing (at least in the UK) wasn't a curious blend of expensive, bland, and rubbish.

barcode wrote:So where will the axe fall on the half dozen M&S stores?

Some over dramatic reporting of that in the media today.

You'd be left thinking half the stores were closing (as the closure number is never put into context of how many stores they have in total) and some reports made out the clothing range was being dropped entirely in favour of food (whereas it's only a small number of stores that are changing format in that way)

Food is the best thing M&S do anyway so good to see them going in that direction. I just wish they hadn't discontinued their fab own brand cola.

Of course they still do the Diet version, if you're like me and have given up the red stuff.

Do we know how much of the French operation is going? I was surprised when the first store I saw when I landed at Charles De Gaulle the other was indeed a 'M&S Food' as it was branded over there, I see they very much play the 'Marks & Spencer London' card internationally on things like receipts and bags for life.

I went into a larger M&S in Central Paris, I don't think it was the flagship store but the Food Hall products seem pretty much identical, the only product I looked for and couldn't find was jam donuts in the bakery section. I'm not sure how much demand amongst Parisians there is for 'Cornish Cove' cheddar though, so I'd be interested to know if the food side of things is doing well outside of the UK.

wells wrote:Of course they still do the Diet version, if you're like me and have given up the red stuff.

Do we know how much of the French operation is going? I was surprised when the first store I saw when I landed at Charles De Gaulle the other was indeed a 'M&S Food' as it was branded over there, I see they very much play the 'Marks & Spencer London' card internationally on things like receipts and bags for life.

I went into a larger M&S in Central Paris, I don't think it was the flagship store but the Food Hall products seem pretty much identical, the only product I looked for and couldn't find was jam donuts in the bakery section. I'm not sure how much demand amongst Parisians there is for 'Cornish Cove' cheddar though, so I'd be interested to know if the food side of things is doing well outside of the UK.

The quality of British cheese is world class - some would say better than French cheese.