to think we can come up with good ideas to save M&S

[FleurDelacoeur]

M&S definitely on the skids. Profits down, stores closing, Chief Exec saying radical transformation required. Fairly clear that this has happened because they're not listening to their core market, which I'd wager has a fairly large crossover with the MN demographic. So Steve Rowe, if you're listening, here are a few bullet points.

1. Scrap the Sparks card.
2. Sack your womenswear design team. All of them. Now.
3. Ditch the Per Una brand.
4. Rethink your over generous returns policy.

I stopped buying donkey years ago when they changed the sizing, so that the old size 10 was now called and 8. This meant that their smallest clothes were now too big for me ( I know they definitely changed the sizing as I dug out an old pair of M&S size 8's and they still fit perfectly).

Hems that stay up and buttons that stay on. That's all I want from Marks

I think theur womens wear section could learn from their menswear section. My dad wore their clothes his entire life, almost the same stuff. He liked getting practically the same stuff year on year and could rely on MandS to do that. My brother now behaves in a similar way. I went to get his Christmas present and found exactly what I wanted :a shirt in a classic, simple style, good fabric, nice colour.

The womenswear section? Weird details, cheap looking fabric. Nothing in our small branch I wanted. Yet I have recently bought a crew neck Cashmere Jumper for myself in a larger branch. Simple, dab colour, love it. This is what I want! But can't get it at my local store.

Older children's section was full of navy, grey and dark red clothing. These colours do not appeal to my children.

Stop trying to be too fashionable - there are plenty of other shops going that.

There are very few shops where I can - on the high street - go a know I can find basic woollen knit wear, cotton tops, pants, bras, socks, cotton jersey dresses etc for me, DH and the dc. In realistic sizes, normal colours and natural fibres.

YY to school uniform and school uniform all year round.

Abd wgatnid really like is tops in a long length - it’s fairky normal to find long leg trousers in most places, but my height is all in my back. I’d love to be slime to get longer length tops/shirts etc in several styles.

I also find M&S shops overwhelming! The ladies wear on the top floor of the Meadowhall store is a crazy disarray of all the different M&S brands merging into each other. Trousers here, dresses there, jumpers here, more dresses there, more trousers there.... the store layout is soul destroying avd confusing.

Cut down on all the “brands” abd attrmots to follow “fast fashion, stick to good quality basics for adults and children- i’d much rather of quality over quantity of choice -and maybe have a few key fashion led pieces - like the Limited range every season.

And bring back dd’s favourite shoes! (coloured leather high tops with elastic laces).

"Waists are too large, trouser legs too short (and I'm only 5'3"!!)"

Their average customer is about 60 so this makes sense.

Nice bit of ageism there Gwenhwyfar. So all over 60s are short and fat?

Stop buying acrylic knitwear, it is beyond ghastly!

I feel harsh, but I don't give a monkeys about saving M&S. If they can't sell stuff we want to buy, they deserve to go under. If people can find stuff elsewhere that they want at cheaper prices, they'll buy it. If they don't sell stuff people want, they'll struggle.

"Their average customer is about 60 so this makes sense.

Nice bit of ageism there Gwenhwyfar. So all over 60s are short and fat? "

I'm 60, 5'7" ans slim. I also have a waist and hips, so ner!

I agree about the Meadowhall store BikeRunSki. There doesn't seem to be any logic about the layout. I have been lucky with jumpers from there this year though. I have long arms, and have managed to find jumpers with arms that are long enough and that haven't shrunk in the wash.

You can get a cotton cardigan in Primark or H&M for under a tenner, why would anyone buy a poly blend one from m&s for twenty?

There’s a good Instagram account that someone who works there runs, she’s called marksandspencer_rachel I think. It’s worth following if you want to find the occasional great clothing pieces they make.

Maybe because they dont want them made in a sweatshop Panda?

Older children's section was full of navy, grey and dark red clothing. These colours do not appeal to my children.

The older boys section in our local M&S seems to consist of the same style of sweatshirt, t-shirt, and top in various shades of sludge.

Places like H&M, Primark, and supermarkets do kids basics and they do them far cheaper than M&S. Why would I spend £10-£12 on a pack of girls cotton knickers when I can get an almost identical pack of girls cotton knickers from Tesco or Primark for £6? Same for a pack of sleepsuits, t-shirts, jeans, the whole lot. Depending on the child's age, they'll have outgrown it in anything from a few weeks to a few months. M&S need to think about why we should spend more there on what we can get cheaper elsewhere and then justify it.

Maybe because they dont want them made in a sweatshop Panda?

But a lot of people will decide that doesn't bother them very much when faced with the choice of ten pounds left in their own pocket or ten pounds extra in the shop till. Sad, but true.

If M&S want to charge more because they don't use sweatshops then they should push that angle - ethically sourced, ethically made, sustainable supply lines, etc. Off the top of my head I couldn't say what M&S' ethics are.

How do you know M&S don't use sweatshops?

This has probably already been said but bring back good quality Women’s tailoring. I needed a new suit and there was nothing decent whatsoever. It was a mixture of cropped jackets, polyester and fucking gold buttons on everything.

I didn’t want to spend Hobbs prices and Next is equally shit and nothing fits me so M&S is often my go to. The couple of decent bits available were only in stock in sizes 8 or 22. The stock control is awful.

My local M&S decided to separate the bras and matching knickers, so now you have to find a bra, then locate the matching knickers in another area of the store. Really annoying to find a nice bra, only to find that the only matching underwear is a thong, so you start again looking at bras... repeat to fade. Previously the bras would be along the top rails, with anything matching underneath - genius!

Sell kids' vests and pants in matching sets. They never seem to have both pants and vests in the same size and design. Also don't put all the girls' socks and undies in a department signposted "boys" as it makes it very difficult to find them.
Most of the food is overpriced, overpackaged and horrible. Excellent selection of beers though which is the only reason I go there now.

Sell small band/large cup size bras again! They briefly went down to a 28 band in up to ?a G cup. It was great! Now they don’t even seem to stock a 30 above a DD/E!

I would also rather have all types of clothes together, ditch the weird pointless brands and just sort by tops and trousers etc. More good quality basics, good material, variety of nice colours (not all tangerine or khaki), variety of lengths and sizes. More vegetarian food

This

M&S may not be perfect Panda but it's cleaned up its act a lot in the last couple of years (after a lot of criticism). H&M, Primark and Walmart are widely recognised as sweatshop kings - thats why their stuff is so cheap.

The tights have gone really down hill - I want tights to stay up over my hips not hipsters that fall down

Maybe M&S could ask customers what their favourite M&S piece of clothing is - that item that they're still wearing years later and wish they could buy in about 5 different colours !
(mine is a purple t-shirt with a sweetheart neckline from about 8 years ago - really flattering, washes really well and I wish I'd bought 4 all the same back then so it would last longer !!)

M&S over engineer everything. Food and clothes. Keep it simple, stop tampering.

Don’t make the stores so rammed with oddly placed stock making it so difficult to take a pushchair round so that the fustrated mother leaves without buying anything x