M&S blaming skinny trousers?!?

[Chickenitalia]

Truly read it all today. Poor sales due to men shunning skinny trousers, amongst other things including overbuying on food and poor supply chain.

Am I the only one not at all surprised? The only men I know who shop for clothing in M&S would not wear skinny trousers ever! I know there have been some dubious buying decisions recently but this one is baffling.

Surely it can’t be long before M&S hits the ropes now? (Been said before I know).

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51045282

I'm with most of the population on skinny trousers. Personally, I'm sick of them as the only option available in most shops for women, too. I'll be glad to see the back of them as a fashion. They suit very few people. M&S are in denial about their fashion selection. Whenever I go in I want to grab a Buyer from Head Office and scream at them. "Who do you think is going to buy this polyester shapeless top in a sickly puce with ruches down the side and string fastenings round the arm with an indeterminate glitter logo on it?" I can't believe they look at a design and say- "Yeah. That's really going to sell" - and actually get a factory to make it up, and stock it in numbers.

Honestly I tried to buy kids clothes from there twice over the Christmas period. I don't know why I bothered. The boys' section was tiny and the clothes were so weird. I couldn't get plain coloured joggers except in bright orange. Yikes. They've gone so far away from quality basics. WTF is wrong with their management.

How bloody clueless can you get.

I bet it was nothing at all to do with pissing off 51 percent of the population

I dont know anyone who shops in M&S, food or clothing.
I've seen the odd boot or coat in Holly's range but they're always so expensive and I can't afford to spend over £100 on a coat that I will have to pay to dry clean as well.
They're far too thirsty for the likes of Alexa Chung to be photographed wearing their oh so cool (in their head) clothes.
The thing with M&S, they've been around for so long. They should use that to their advantage by bringing back some of their original 70s prints and designs.
Sadly they're so chasing the cool crowd that they fail to see that they've still got a rep as a shop your grab frequents.

Bet they haven't sold many coats, either. I went there with the express intent of buying a smart wool coat. None had real pockets, other than a single peacoat which had been ruined by two patch pockets like you'd find on Paddington Bear's duffle. Most had hideously acrid linings and worse, trim that would have made it unsuitable for formal occasions. None had an inside pocket large enough for a phone.

The knitwear is horrible colours. I don't want a puce or beige/peach/toothpaste green/mauve cardie that finishes 8 inches above my backside. I want a choice of classic neutrals, some different shades to suit my hardly unusual colouring and I don't want cheap shit shiny buttons or other shite tacked on at every corner. I also want smart dresses that cover my knees but aren't festooned in ruffles and giant splodges. Cheap plastic buttons and thigh high splits don't impress me, either.

You can never get the matching knickers to a bra. Or the only option is some arse floss that also slices directly into the old Caesarian scar. Which leaves polo necked knickers in nylon or cotton with the same patterns on them as were in cheap multipacks for children circa 1984.

One type of tights came in the right size, length and thickness and were black. Out of an entire section. One type. No warmer tights, ribbed, woven or textured tights above an 8.

When you go on line, nothing is ever in stock. If it claims something is in stock at the branch, it's nowhere to be seen.

I should be their target demographic. I'm old enough, I'm working, I'm not that fat. I occasionally manage to buy something from there that is good quality, fits and is appropriate for work. FFS, I actually want to be able to buy from there regularly. I hate shopping and if I can kill three birds with one stone and pick up some boxers or a shirt for DP and then something for dinner that actually contains vegetables, rather than just a box of beige, I'm fine with that. If they put some not dead houseplants in the place, I'd be getting them as well.

But that good quality coat? Bought in Primark for twenty eight quid. OK, not wool, but the cut is fantastic, the lining is adequate, the pockets are surprisingly well made and complement the cut. It looks considerably more expensive than the ones M&S were punting out for over a hundred quid. Because somebody designed it to appeal to the 'needs to look smart' buyer, rather than assumed 'oh, someone will buy it'

Poor sales due to disastrous senior level management that won't listen to anyone, won't change, and now allows blokes into women's changing rooms and won't respond to any woman's questions about this.

Why their shareholders keep Rowe, Norman etc at the helm, I honestly don't know. They're the joke of the high street.

M&S shut-down their online focus group last year, probably because it was telling them too much of what they didn't want to hear - too many non-regular sizes was a frequent complaint on there for a couple of years.

On the food side they have a habit (along with other retailers) of annoying regular customers by cutting back on year-round specialist diet ranges (their Made Without) to make room for seasonal lines.

It can't help that they've become reliably regular discounters - surely everyone now holds off buying anything they want that's not urgent until the next 20% sale?

I used to buy all my work trousers from them but they seem to have decided (along with an annoying number of other retailers) that long length trousers should be online order only. So I'm supposed to order several styles in two sizes, pay for them and then return them for a refund.

Their Christmas food was far too expensive. I'm vegetarian and the cheapest main I saw was £7, as the only one who would be eating it, it wasn't worth it compared to other shops. Their party food was 4 for 3 but some of it was £7 each.

I have struggled with M&S since about 2010, although rarely bought from them before that, just underwear really and knitwear that didn't have animal fibres in as I can't wear them.

Online orders, often cancelled but not informed me until some weeks later when I thought 'hey that's taking a long time and followed it up'.

Jeans with waists the same width as the hips so that they fall down as soon as you walk, curved shapes with the waist so low they also fall down. If any of them might fit the waist and hips they don't fit the thighs. If any actually fit all over they stretch after an hour and still fall down.

Knickers that are the same design that everyone else sells, lacy tops that slide down below the belly and leg holes that ride up your arse.

Hideous tops in foul colours and coats with glow in the dark trims and linings.

All I buy now is boxers for men which have gone up in price and down in fabric quality but are still better than Debenhams which disintegrate around the waist and as long as they don't mess with the style will still be OK.

Food is OK if you are short on places to shop but only go there in desperation as it is a bit pricey for basic veg and the bakery is uncovered and easy for children to mess about with as it is on low shelves, on corners of the counter in ours.

No-one here buys skinny trousers, or those jackets that look as if they have been in the wardrobe since the men were young boys, too short, too narrow and look as if they shrunk. Menswear is now bought elsewhere, where they aren't skimping on fabric.

Seriously. If they could stock
Jeans in about 5 styles
Good quality plain tops with a v neck
Work trousers
They would be fine
But they do not stock any like enough 12 to 16s. Or men's 34 and 36 trousers.

They just don't seem to get it right, do they? I love their bras and pants, and the jeggings were great but not much else, sadly.

If they keep on like this they will go under and I, for one, will be sorry to them go.

I very rarely shop at M and S. I took my teen DD to get a bra there. Admittedly she is a tricky size but I thought out of all the high street, M and S would be able to cater for her. They could offer her 1 style of bra in her size (which admittedly is better than none). There is literally nothing that tweens or teens would wear there (same with next). Admittedly I think my DH would possibly look there for trousers or tops but he hates skinny trousers.
I very rarely look in the food section as it's not budget friendly, unless I am in a hurry and get a few bits in the one attached to the petrol station.

The last time I went there, looking for black trousers, the rails were crammed with size 8, 18 and 20. The only pair of size 14 trousers were short.

I am a very average person in height and build, and feel that average people aren’t sufficiently catered for.

The one thing that has impressed me is school shoes. I've bought 2 or 3 pairs for DS (10) and thought they were as good if not better than Clarke's but much more reasonably priced (and the shop wasn't as chaotic in the school holidays)

They seem to be trying to entice a younger market, but that market has so many other places to shop!
Meanwhile the rest of us who want good quality and natural fabrics are not catered for anymore..

How many men under the age of about 25 shop there?

And how many men over the age of about 25 will wear skinny trousers?

It's not rocket surgery...

all these have been told for long time but still they dont change, even get worse.

I am a very average person in height and build, and feel that average people aren’t sufficiently catered for.

I'm a size six and practically nothing in the adult section of M&S fits me. Hats and scarves maybe.

My husband does his annual clothes shop in M&S. he not young and wouldn't be seen dead in a pair of skinny trousers. He has very big feet and they just emphasis their clown-like proportions.

I do actually quite like their girls clothes. It was the only place I could get a decently warm, waterproof and washable girls coat that wasn't hideous. And total win that the lining is fully recycled!

M&S I'd say is having what I'd like to call a 'demographic disconnect'.

The 2 for 3 offers on clothing put me off.

I just cannot work out what on earth anyone in charge there is thinking!
MIL was devoted to M&S for decades. Now in her 70s, if they sold anything decent for women, men, kids, home, food, she would buy it. She goes in every single week for bits and bobs as it’s the closest food store and within walking distance for her, and is constantly disappointed. Not helped that the store has a tiny corner of baby/kids stuff and masses of skinny trousers that neither she nor FiL would go near.
She spent almost £500 on food for the festive season for the extended family, multiple events and lots of people, we all chipped in to pay as it was easiest for her to do it that way. It was honestly no better than things I’ve had from Aldi.
Once Ocado start stocking their food in September I will be watching my bills and quality very closely indeed.
(Did get dd some nice winter boots there though - so they can get some things right!)

Oh dear what a pity. Perhaps they should try listening to their customer base and not telling women to fuck off.

I will be whistling a merry little tune when they go under.

Actually I won't, because I am going to be worried about the staff and the impact of closures on the towns they are trading in. But I will think 'you absolute fucking idiots, why didn't you listen?!'.

I am fat, tall woman who works. I want smart black trousers that fit. They have one design, available online only and almost perpetually out of stock. When they are stocked they vanish fast. The design is clearly popular but M&S seem to be determined not to meet demand. Wankers.
When I tried to buy DH socks (mens) , DS pants (kids) and DD knickers (ladies) 2 months ago the shop had none in stock in any of their sizes. I'm not talking about my being fussy and rejecting choices, there were literally none in stock in store. I don't have time to waste trying to track elusive M&S stock. I shop elsewhere.