M & S closing more stores makes me not want to shop there. AIBU?

[Hetaera]

Just that really. I try and support Marks & Spencer and buy childrenswear, men's underwear, women's tops, lingerie and the food there. I'm not expecting a medal, I like the things there.

The news they are closing even more stores (I still miss the Basildon and Portsmouth ones dreadfully) makes me feel really disappointed in them. I know trading conditions are terrible, but it feels like they are giving up on small towns and the UK high street. Also, I feel so sad for the loyal employees.

I'd been planning on purchasing some new tops and shoes from M&S, but I don't really want to now. Am I being silly? My husband says I am .

Shake some sense into me!

If everyone stops shopping there, more will close . People NOT using these shops is very reason they are all closing!!

Why not feel a bit sympathetic for the employees / high street and continue to use shops you like in the hope that they might stay open?

I know how you feel. Not fashion related but felt v let down by them at Christmas. I never do the pre order of Xmas food. For as many years as I can remember I have just popped in a few days before the big day and easily grabbed a turkey, all the trimmings etc. I didn't leave it til Xmas Eve this year, a day or two prior, but the shelves were so badly stocked. I literally had one turkey to choose from! It was like they'd just given up at their best time of year.

I'd be horrified if my local store closed, mind, so will carry on supporting it even if it's getting a bit shit.

They should have taken advice from the very sensible mumsnet threads about what we’d like them to stock.

Much of my wardrobe us from M&S, but mostly bought online as I'm disabled. Please keep shopping there; we don't want it to disappear altogether, do we.

I’m not quite following your logic if you think boycotting shops will help them keep stores open!

Closing the unprofitable stores will mean that they can keep open the profitable ones for longer. It's sound business sense to cut the dead wood. As more shopping goes online, any High St firm wanting to survive needs to close its' under-performing stores.

Woolworths, Littlewoods, etc would have survived longer if they'd done the same.

I live in one of the towns mentioned yesterday and I can't tell you what a massive gap this will leave in our shopping centre. Our town already has high unemployment so this won't help either. We already lost BHS and only have Debenhams (no good for food) and I'm not sure that will keep going much longer.

I feel very sorry for older people who only want a few bits and pieces and don't want to travel to an out of town retail centre. We are now faced with the prospect of having to go to another county if we want to browse around a store! I love ours, which is actually quite a decent size, and the staff are always lovely and friendly. The news was like a hammer blow and I for one intend to keep shopping there for as long as possible. I know our MP isn't happy but not sure how much influence anyone could have.

Debenhams is closing 90 stores. I used to think IKEA was daft not opening more stores now not so sure. Look at Harvey Nichols? Not that I can afford to shop there lol.

I’m the opposite - m&s seem to be really trying. Debenhams on the other hand, god I just wish they could be put out their misery - it would keep the other shops a bit stronger! Our local Debenhams is like something from the 70’s and everything is ‘cheap’ but overpriced.

I adore M&S and won’t stop shopping there! If they close our local store I’d just shop online. Though they need to make returning stuff exceptionally easy...

M&S are a business not a charity! They are under no obligation to keep an underperforming store open in order to keep a high street busy.

The mid-sized stores they are closing aren’t right for the way we shop now. People shop in big, city centre stores, in shopping centres like the Trafford Centre or in out of town retail parks. Why hold on to unsuitable stores?

I love M&S and I buy lots from them. I want them to stay in business so that I can continue to do so.

If you like the product - buy it! Why does them closing stores make a difference to whether you buy or not? Because you feel sorry for the staff/towns? More people will be affected if you don’t buy.

The better their clothes and food get, the more likely I will be to buy. I have bought less and less lately as on the whole I find the clothes are too cheap and static-y with weird design features and the food tastes more and more cheap, synthetic and mass produced every time I buy. There are some things I still like so I still visit and continue to give them a chance to impress me!

Am very curious why you would miss two branches that are 3 hours drive from each other!

Also, what’s with MPs demanding urgent phone calls with M&S to discuss planned store closures, as two Hull MPs have done?

It’s not as if they have anything better to do, eh?

I've said this before on other M&S threads..
But they really need to listen ....

M&S please bring your fabulous beauty counter downstairs with the clothing.
( it does not do it justice, having it rooked between, the cafe and menswear!)

But all good basics in one place, then arrange the fashion better.
Holly's campaign was great but you never had her range and accessories in the same place. It was chaotic.

I want to go in, buy what I need and then be tempted with some fabulous beauty products.

I will come and do it for you of you like ?!?!

The Basildon store was diabolical and had been for years. I can't think of anything positive to say except it made the walk from the multi-storey car park feel a bit safer.

Why are you disappointed in them? If the stores are unprofitable they should close them. Better close a few stores than go bust completely! They are a business.

You are being ridiculous, it's sad if stores you like close but they don't have a responsibility to remain open

The M&S store at Fosse Park, Leicester is all on one floor, (well there are about six steps up from home & furnishings to the rest of the store) works really well as you can just whizz up & down through the store as much as you want. (How I miss that shop since we've moved away!)
Though it's an out of town store so it has the space to be one level compared to the stores in city/town centres.

If you like what M&S sells, shop there if you want yours to stay open.

My town has 2, one in the centre and another on a retail park, I don't think either is closing. The latter is handily next to an Aldi so works well for complementary food shopping - naice stuff from marks, basics from Aldi.

Yes, you are being silly! And all you'll do is hasten the closure of more stores.

The reason there wasn't much stock pre-Christmas is that all the retailers are trying to cut down on how much stock they have to hold, because that means they've had to lay out less cash.

It's a really torrid time for high street stores now, and the more people abandon them and/or shop online, the more this is going to happen.

Stores themselves also have to change though - they can't just carry on as they are, they need to make it more enjoyable for us to shop there and make the effort to leave the house.

Our small market town had M&S and HoF threaten to shut last year. M&S did but HoF is hanging on (our store is profitable and so I'm not quite sure why shutting it was thought a good idea). It's all very well saying we shop differently but in small towns those destination stores make a difference and frankly I don't have the time to travel to my nearest big city to browse when I can go online. I do however want my local town centre open for emergency purchases. In the 20 years that I've lived here more and more dept stores have shut (we had a Woolies as well) and more and more restaurants and bars have opened. The town centre is changing.

They are not closing shops for shits and giggles. They are doing it to try to keep the business viable in extremely difficult trading circumstances.

Boycotting them is an absurd idea.

The one in my town is closing. I’ll probably shop at M&S less because there is not a store for me to go into. One of their better selling points was that you could do next day collection from stores, try on and return in the store. If I have to pay postage and organise postal returns this puts them on the same footing as lots of other clothes retailers and I will probably shop around more.
On a separate note I worry about the impact on the high street, my town already has a lot of empty shops and if footfall goes down because there isn’t an M&S either then I fear other shops will close and it will become even more run down. Obviously I know it’s all down to economics and presumably it didn’t make business sense. So sorry for those losing their jobs too.

I do however want my local town centre open for emergency purchases

But this is the problem. Emergency purchases aren't going to be regular/large enough to keep them going.

It's a terrible dilemma, because for shoppers, going online is far more convenient than having to schlep into town, but if we don't do that, stores will continue to have to close.

One thing that I think will have to change is the rent that landlords are charging - real estate costs are a significant reason why many retailers are having to close stores.

Yes, you are all right in my silliness. Thank you! I would never boycott it, but the publicity from store closures has made me feel more negative about M&S.

Anyway, buoyed by your comments, I took my Christmas money into town today and went to my local store. I tried on the things I'd had my eye on and none of them looked right at all. Funny on my bust, frumpy, too short in the body or horrid cheap feeling material

Serves me right!

They should stop wasting money on Holly Willoughby and start spending it on fashion experts