Marks and Spencer support new 'Hooters' in Bristol

[JessinAvalon]

Dear all
This is my first post on here so I hope I am doing this right!

I live in Bristol and, last week, 'Hooters' was granted a licence to open in the city centre. The site is virtually opposite 3 apartment blocks, the lower floors of which are social housing and children are living in them.

What's most disappointing is that Marks and Spencer are leasing the site to 'Hooters'. They have been e-mailed by many concerned people to ask if they will reconsider leasing the building but they have just replied saying it is a "commercial decision" (as if that makes it ok!). In Sheffield, a 'Hooters' didn't even make it to application stage because the developer (Ask Pizza) realised that it would be better not to be associated with a company like 'Hooters'.

Marks and Spencer don't seem that concerned, however. Although they have signed up to the "Let Girls Be Girls" Mumsnet campaign they are not concerned about a company which sells merchandise including babygros which say "Future Hooters Girl" and "Does my butt look big in this?"

I have written to Marks and Spencer telling them that I won't be shopping in their stores again. If you feel strongly about this, please e-mail:

[email protected].

'Hooters' tries to sell itself as a family friendly restaurant but it is anything but. The Hooters in Nottingham attracts mainly stag parties and football fans. Hooters Girls take part in bikini contests and iced wet t-shirt competitions (the t-shirts are put in the freezers before the girls wear them). 'Hooters' has links to Playboy magazine....I could go on.....

I think Marks and Spencer should be shamed for facilitating this company's expansion into Bristol. They are selling women and girls down the river by leasing to this company and all just to make a "quick buck".

Thanks everyone.

Welcomem to Mumsnet, David, and have a great day!

seeyouokay - you're right that the £2k you calculate won't make any difference to them but it won't just be £2k. The people who have declared their spend here will only be a very small proportion on the total number who will do the same.

I made this point in one of my emails to Sir Stuart, it wasn't acknowledged of course but it won't take long to reach the rental being paid.

Are there any commercial property specialists on here who could make an estimate for us of the likely rental? I don't knwo Bristol but nationally there must be overcapacity and rents are likely to be low with maybe even some rent free periods.

My example above about spending my £50 elsewhere was just on one day, my spend over the course of a year would be much higher.

I will have to make it clear to MIL that she mustn't buy us any presents from M&S this year - poor MIL, she already thinks I am barmy

Useful link for David - just some of the successful consumer boycotts from the last few years, since he is clearly not very well informed about boycotts. They are a very effective campaign tool

THat independant article was brilliant

Anyone got any tips for good fitting jeans for slim people with actual muscle in their legs?! Per Una were the best for my body type and I desperately need a new pair. Next jeans fit me weirdly around the waist.

(budget around the £30 mark)

The total so far is only from Mumsnet. There are hundreds of other people at least in the groups I listed above who are supporting the boycott too. There were 50-60 women at the Unison conference too and many of them took a leaflet and were going to take it back to their branches.

The Women's Institute in Bristol will have a few hundred members too.

Who is David? And what connection does he have to M&S, I wonder?

Ha SSM I found that link last night too, then I just thought "fuck it, he doesn't deserve my square brackets"

Why is it presumed that anybody supporting either M&S or Hooters must have something to do with the individual companies?

oh well Elephants, it's not just for him.
I found it very encouraging too

Sorry to be dumb/lazy/busy at work, but can anyone share with me their latest email to M&S, pointing out where things stand now? please? I want to keep bombarding them.

DiscoDaisy - in mjjlisa's case it was the Stepfordian tone.

It was suspiciously similar to those posts where someone comes on and tells you about this great new childcare product they've discovered and when you follow their link it turns out they have the same name as the person who set up the company.

I'm sure we get it wrong all the time but in that case the person can come back and defend him/herself, which I look forward to David and Mjjlisa doing.

I've had comments on my old blog in a similar tone after I've criticised a company and traced the IP address back to the company's HQ.

There's a chance we've collected a few trolls just from the newspaper publicity too, but I wouldn't rule out the chance that we have some company stirring.

Dear Sir/Madam
I e-mailed a couple of weeks ago regarding the above and got the standard corporate response regarding 'Hooters' in Bristol. Since then, I have been watching with interest the threads on 'Mumsnet' in which the same responses have been posted in reply to the various questions that people have been asking.

I understand that Marks and Spencer regard this as a commercial decision. However, I am interested to know if the decision was made before Marks and Spencer knew about the connection between Gallus Management and 'Hooters'.

I am also interested to know if Marks and Spencer would have still entered into the agreement had they been aware of the connection (I am hoping not).

If it was a mistake, could Marks and Spencer not come out and admit this? And if it is too late to withdraw from the lease arrangements, could you not just come out and admit that it was a mistake and that, regretfully, it is too late to withdraw?

Presumably Marks and Spencer could still cancel the lease agreement? I accept that this will incur a financial penalty but would this be worth it to recover some of the loss in goodwill, harm to its reputation and the loss in business that the company will now suffer as a result of this arrangement? The number of people alone on Mumsnet who have said that they will be buying their food & clothes & furniture elsewhere and the figures they state must run into the thousands, if not the tens of thousands.

The impression that Marks and Spencer is giving at the moment is that it places commercial decisions ahead of all others, and that it doesn't care if it causes huge offence to a large part of its core customer base.

I personally feel disappointed that Marks and Spencer has entered into this agreement in the first place, especially after signing up to the Mumsnet "Let Girls be Girls" campaign. I don't see how, in all conscience, the company could continue to be a part of this campaign, as it clearly doesn't abide by the principles of the campaign when there is a bit of money to be made.

Some clarity beyond the standard response and a bit of honesty from Marks and Spencer would be appreciated. And perhaps Marks and Spencer should honourably resign from the "Let Girls be Girls" campaign if it is unable to abide by the principles that it has signed up to.

Regards

This was mine. I just got pretty much no comment in response.

I just got a tweet from a mum at school (which is near the harbourside/Hooters)- I didn't even know she knew about this!

Dear @marksandspencer, please don't sublet to Hooters in Bristol, we really don't want it. #nohootersinbristol.

Have retweeted! Am really buoyed up by the number of people standing up to be counted here. So much for a 'vocal minority':)

It's good that MNHQ have commented in the papers (and I know that they would because it's publicity, of course, but still) and given it the seal of approval. I.e. not just "some batty posters" but "MN with its army of flying monkeys millions of visitors is against this"

Just tried ringing the Plan A team. Was told I needed to speak to someone in legal, Heather (was given the full name but am not sure if I should post it on here?). Head office number is 0207 935 4422.

I've left a message on her phone as she's only in the office on Mon, Weds and Thurs but there was another number on her voicemail which I didn't get down in time if anyone wants to try that. Someone called Bernadette.

Thanks Jess. Will send that now and file the stock reply with the other ones. This must be hurting them by now though. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to actually ask to see the manager of local store or write to her/him as well? That way we can tell them how often we shop in their store, how many of our friends are with us on this and hopefully put some pressure on this level of the organisation too.

MumBristol - have you got a link to the tweet? I'll retweet it too (DM it to @Pewari on Twitter if you don't want to post it here for identification reasons).

Ah, nm found it on a twitter search - retweeting

Sakura, I wouldn't read the comments in the Sun either. Ignorant little people - more Matalan than M&S.

Incidentally, I'm quite happy that I'm not you, nor am I likely to be in your time zone. I just dont need to thank a profanity for that.

E&M, what is this thread if it isn't a bunch a strangers telling each other what they think? It just so happens that most of the contributors think the same thing, but that doesn't mean that there aren't other views.

I'm not overly concerned whether you put your toys back, but it had occurred to me that some posters on this thread had realised the futility of the gesture and were looking for an apology from M&S rather than a decisive action. This would recognise your power as consumers , but avert the need to actually make the terrible sacrifice.

Of course, if the M&S toys are not allowed back in the pram, then I do hope that the full gamut of ethical considerations is taken into account when choosing to conspicuously switch consumption to an alternative retailer. It would be awful if ones outrage against Hooters were perhaps to cause one to drive twice as far, buy less sustainably produced food or, heaven forbid, a garment produced in a sweatshop!

Sakura again, why is it that activists often seem to think that ridicule is the first step on the road to acceptance of their message? I suppose it explains why the Flat Earth Society is still going.

Oh, and one last point, St. Hubbins was the patron saint of quality footware - not to be confused with St. Michael, the famous M&S house label. So you see, I have nothing whatsoever to do with either Marks & Sparks or Hooters and all you conspiracy theorists can take off your tin foil hats

Ah David so you're a name changer? Not that it's relevant to the discussion, just interesting to know.