Mrs M&S

[Chippednailvarnishing]

Am I the only person who thinks the concept of Mrs M&S is bollocks and finds the whole idea crap?

[EverySongbirdSays]

Because, in many ways, they are the shop version of the Daily Mail.

I remember them bringing in Per Una and the stuff was GREAT like a cheaper Monsoon, until slowly and slowly but surely it aged and aged til it was like the ordinary M and S retired secretary of the Crown Green Bowls Club clothes.

I still love the Food

But they relentlessly miss the mark on Clothes and even the Bras can't be trusted on quality anymore

Mrs M&S is vomitus which shows that their 'target consumer' is a demographic that is increasingly obselete

People want quality, but the new generation of wives and mothers associate it with their Nans generation

[ElectroStallion]

There was a huge thread (in S&B?) earlier this year about what they do wrong, right, and need to change. I do hope someone sent it to them.

I should be Mrs. M&S, but I haven't shopped there in over ten years, not even the food, it's gone so downhill.

[Turbinaria]

They deserve to go under if this is the sort of crap they espouse. I was in M&S in Stratford Westfield on Monday and the only thing I wanted to try on a bra was unavailable in my size. Wandering around it felt like the Marie celeste. I then went into primark and h&m and bought 3 items. I'm late forties in a professional job and grew up wearing M&S I bought most of my working wardrobe pre dcs at M&S. Over the past 15 years I have only really bought underwear from them.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeG0es]

Same here, I'm late 40s and in my twenties I bought all my basics and workwear from them, suits, skirts, fitted trousers plus underwear, plain teeshirts etc. I can't remember the last time I bought outer clothes from them, I still buy shoes occasionally and I am a fan of the revamped beauty section (they are getting that right) but I shudder every time I walk through the clothes.

[Foofoobum]

Aww I'm not a Mrs, no one wants to marry me. Does that mean I can't shop in m&s?

[hareagain]

Just seen it on the news and said to DH, I bet there is a thread on MN.

Very patronising to say the least. Not done themselves any favours imo.

[winkywinkola]

M&S have had it.

[Chippednailvarnishing]

I also don'y understand why they are aiming at such a small demographic?

Surely they should be going for women who are likely to have young DCs , who are dressed by their parents, do a reasonably large food shop and might also buy furniture? By the time I'm 50, I won't be buying my DC's clothes and I its unlikely they will be living at home.

[magnificatAnimaMea]

Patronizing wankpuffins. I keep getting emails from them about choosing the husband's clothes. F Off. If he wants to wear clothes he can buy them himself.

That said - it's the only place I shop these days. It's about 1/4 the price, more ethically made, vastly less ugly*, and better quality than anything available where I live, and they do free postage a lot of the time. So I do hope they don't go under...

*I used to be able to afford better taste. Now I live in a country where women's clothes are either really quite nice & just eyewateringly, unreachably expensive (think 200 quid for a bog-standard jumper); or hideous polyester trash made in sweatshops, 4x the price of M&S.

[Sansfards]

Wankpuffins! That's made my night!

[JamButtyLand]

I loved m & s kids clothes years ago and also bought lots of basics there. Haven't shopped there for years, partly because I moved out of area. I still love the food though...and the mint crumbles at the till

[bakeoffcake]

I heard a man saying this on the radio this morning. Dh said "well what about me?" I said "what about Ms, and Miss M&S".
I couldn't believe it when I found out it was the chief Executive and thought he'd fucked up and he'd be getting a bollocking for it

And this comes on top of their crappy, annoying Sparks Card no I haven't bloody swipped it

[LunaLoveg00d]

This is a common marketing tool - visualise your core customer as a person, give them a name and it helps you decide what products to sell. It's like the middle England "Mondeo Man" that Labour party under Blair had as their target voter.

I think the problem is that M&S are very confused about exactly who Mrs M&S is. M&S shouldn't be about high fashion catwalk looks, but about fashionable basics that are a staple of every wardrobe. In the 1990s if I wanted a basic white shirt, black pair of trousers or work separates Marks were great, now they just miss the market every time. I do love their school uniform though, the quality is great as is price. Hubby used to like their shirts but prefers John Lewis now.

They need to fire the entire womenswear design team and start from scratch.

[Giggorata]

Too right - & ditch the polyester.

[Sunnsoo]

I used to work there as a student and they are VERY sexist towards their employees.

[LikeDylanInTheMovies]

It would be more interesting if they started catering to Mrs S&M.

[5BlueHydrangea]

The pink iced buns are still fab though...

[UsedToBeAPaxmanFan]

I saw this in the news last night and thought it was awful. I do occasionally buy work clothes from M&S (from their Autograph range) but would never buy non-work clothes there. I'm late 40s, in a professional job, two teenagers and buy mostly from Zara, Jigsaw, and White Stuff. I should be part of their target audience but I find most of their clothes depressingly frumpy.

[StrawberrytallCake]

What a shame! I'm early 30s and love some of the M&S stuff but their Mrs M&S is definitely not me - it's a great way to alienate all of the other customers you were trying to attract two minutes ago

[suspiciousofgoldfish]

Agree with strawberry above, it's a shame they seem to be pigeon-holeing their core customers. And making this public. As a pp said, this talk usually stays in the meeting room.

I am early 30s and went to M&S recently (don't usually shop there, don't know why).

I have to say, I found it a brilliant shopping experience! I was surprised at how nice the clothes were, and how stylish. The beauty department was huge, loads of great brands, and all the staff seemed knowledgeable and couldn't do enough to help.

I will be shopping in M&S more now, I had no idea it was like that. They have obviously made lots of effort to bring it up to date and IMO it has worked.

[Numbkinnuts]

Agree with Luna re clothes in 1990s.

Got a couple of suits from M&S back then and shirts and they formed the basis of a working wardrobe.

[shinynewusername]

I cringed when I heard it yesterday. It is so patronising. Explains a lot about their god-awful clothes.

[Just5minswithDacre]

Why on Earth are they using rubbishy marketing language as a PR tool? This cringey stuff should stay in M&S meeting rooms, not in the press. It's ok to have a shorthand term for your key customers, but you don't need to publicise it- and actually 'Mrs M&S' in itself indicates that they don't 'get' their target market at all.

This^. The man's a numpty.

[BeauGlacons]

They need some quality fabrics back again. I think the stuff is ok but they've lost sight if the basics. Notte to ceo - half of Mrs M&S is over 5'6" so if you could please make long in a higher ratio it would be helpful.

I'm 56 married and very traditional. Please don't refer to me as Mrs M&S, I am Mrs DH surname and an individual. can you please get rid of your sparks card, it will snow in hell before I log on to access offers