To be annoyed at small aisles in shops (M&S)?

[heartmoonshadow]

Hi,

I am sure other mums have had this problem. I went to M&S to buy something out of their gift catalogue - I had to go into shop as item was not available online. Anyway when I got their I found that the Christmas section had aisle so unbelievably tight I could not get me and the pushchair down them. So I did the reasonable thing and headed towards customer service - only to find that the desk was now pushed so far out into the main aisle that the people leaving one department and coming into the next were bottle necked.

I waited patiently to get through whilst busy shoppers brushed past me, the final straw was when one really brusque shopper (you know the type high heels, power suit, attitude and loads of shopping bags) pushed past that hard that my little one was hit in the face by her bags in the pushchair.

I duly complained to the manager and he was very apologetic but I could see that he was going to do nothing.

Is it me or does anyone else get annoyed by this?

Our M+S put the school uniform in the corridor area between the ladies clothes and the escalator to the food hall. That was a really useful decision, as all the parents with small children trying to buy polo shirts were seriously in the way of the "ladies with big handbags".

Our Boots have the baby section upstairs, and there is no lift.

Shop elsewhere?

Yup, me too. Have stopped shopping upstairs in my local m&s and complained. They put the kids stuff upstairs, make the access to and from the lift near impossible, and put the babies clothes on a back wall behind lots of aisles too narrow for people with pushchairs. Must lose tons of sales for baby stuff.

Grrrr!

I did go and shop elsewhere, they obviously have a target demographic and it seems I do not fulfill the criteria.

I understand your angst but get the wee one out of the pushchair and leave the pushchair where it is?

I hear what you are saying, but that wasn't really practical for some reason shop was really busy with customers, DS was asleep, I had shopping in the basket and I would not have felt comfortable leaving my stuff unattended - paranoid I know, if I had been in home village that would have been no problem but not in a busy city centre.

It's interesting that shops do this. They obviously 'know' what they are doing. By that I mean they know who is going to spend. And sometimes it's not us weary mums with an overladen buggy!

I agree as I say I am not their demographic, not so much a weary mum, just one keen to get Christmas shopping out of the way. Like I say I would have shopped online had I the option I only went to get item from shop as it was a nice gift for a friend. Friend now has something from Boots who have loads of room in their aisles!

Hf - there are others shop which welcome pushchairs, why not vote with feet/wheels and shop there? My DD is 5 months, I don't think I love m&s enough to tuck her under my arm, carry my bag with other hand, and shop with my teeth?! AIBU?

But it really gets my goat (as someone has already said) when the baby dept is downstairs or upstairs in a Boots with no lift!!

Russell and Bromley never have a lift and their chidlren's dept is never on the ground floor.

That's why I get the housekeeper/nanny/butler do all my shopping when it gets too difficult.

Where are these shops you talk about?

Sbeanmum you gave me a good laugh - I don't know why but it conjured up an image of a cavewoman out on a hunt - please don't be offended. I would love to see someone with screaming child in one hand, bags in the other and a nice M&S bra and knickers set in between their teeth!

Hf - sorry, thought you were serious. ooops!

HMS - cheers! That was the picture I was aiming for! Slightly less because at least humour intended was detected! Not offended, am flattered.

would anyone really take their baby out of the pushchair just to go and look down an aisle of a shop?! no way would i do that, so much trouble just to have a look especially if you have a child that doesnt yet walk or one who is prone to running off. so impractical!
i've not found m&s bad for this actually, but it is very annoying when you can't get through easily in shops. our mothercare is really bad for it!! unfortunately still just shop there as we don't have much variety nearby to my house without getting on the bus, so have to shop with whats available

I do it all the time. She is 21 months at the moment - and have done it since she was 1 day old.

Yep, I really was shopping in John Lewis in Watford the day after she was born. And I wasn't shopping for baby things - I was looking for a present for a friend!

I find most shops have too small aisles! or maybe my buggy is too big?! our next has the kids dept upstairs (tho it does have a lift) but the aisles are so small and tight that you cant actually turn your buggy round the corners to get round the bloody shop!!

I have a huge side by side double and oddly have never really had this problem! If I did I would not shop there, I wouldnt leave the buggy and Im not getting my kids out, its bad enough getting them in there in the first place

What you describe is exactly my life, times two because my DH is a wheelchair user.

Aisles too small? Check.
Stuff parked in them whilst staff do stockcheck? Check
No indicator of where the lift is? Check

Our local co-op has been hauled over the coals about this (rightly) but the casual disdain for people with buggies/wheelchairs is a scandal, in my view. Not happy.

Agree with Tribpot, if you can't get a buggy down the aisle then there's not enough space for a wheelchair. I'm fairly sure that by law they aisles need to 90cm wide for access. (or have an assistant to help you)