M&S + John Lewis - your poor Christmas sales will be due to the contempt you've shown your female customers

[Sunkisses]

It's all over the news that M&S and John Lewis have had terrible Christmas sales. I am absolutely sure this is due to the terrible press coverage they received and viral threads of Twitter about how they allow men into the female changing rooms, the contempt they treated their female customers with when we voiced our complaints, and the 1,000s of us who pledged not to shop with them over Christmas. I stuck by my pledge over Christmas and they lost about £1,000 of custom from me with gifts and food. Anyone else kept up their boycott?

[LangCleg]

You might as well not go out to shop anywhere seeing as pretty much every business is going to operate the same policies.

Oh, I found plenty who don't. An entire Christmas spend's worth, in fact. And I spend a lot at Christmas. Mahousive family dontchaknow.

Like I say, once Wanky Wokeism irritates you sufficiently that you don't take the path of least resistance, you find all sorts of delights - so much better than the dross the WW tried to shove down your throat.

Do keep trying though, dear. Goddess loves a trier.

[Sexnotgender]

I haven’t spent one single solitary penny in M&S since they showed their utter contempt for women. Hope they go under.

[snowblight]

Hope they go under.

I'm sure all the female staff will be delighted to hear that.

[Needmoresleep]

Woke capitalism is yesterday's news

Very last decade.

Hopefully wokerism in general is also last decade. I assume Brits have been scared by virtue signaling over Brexit, with frustrated with being neither listened to or heard.

A different topic altogether, and one I hesitate to raise, but amongst the Mail's endless and often vacuous writing on Harry and Meghan was a rather good essay by Patrick Jephson, a former Royal Private Secretary, and from my own experience, an all round good-egg.

Two quotes:
"And there was the dilemma. Should Harry and Meghan have stopped the preaching and self-pity, binned the woke activism and joined what is still the royal mainstream of uncomplaining duty; or are they right to have redoubled their social justice agenda, burned brighter the flame of feminism and put their fame to work saving the planet — all while baring their most tender emotional bruises?"

"The country she left in 2019 to take her North American break has changed, with a rising mood of scepticism towards identity politics and the language of social justice, much of it imported from Meghan’s birthplace."

Perhaps the tide is turning. JKR, Ricky Gervais etc. A shift in approach from the BBC and others. Perhaps we can consign gender politics, Stonewall, and other wokeism to the last decade as well.

Then we count the cost. Boris as PM with a hefty mandate, turning our backs on the EU and perhaps the rest of the world, a resurgence of social conservatism, and perhaps the loss of M&S and JL from our High Streets, and the BBC as we know it. Despite this, when it is all set out, I prefer proper democracy than the woke dictators that tried to control our speech, thought, reality and dignity.

[RuffleCrow]

Yup. On an average Christmas i would spend about £500 in each of those shops, altogether. Not this year! Thousands more like me.

[Toorahtoorahaye]

I doubt it has anything to do with drop in sales. Most folk don’t know anything about this or if they caught a paragraph - didn’t give it much thought. Their stance is annoying but i doubt it’s stopped folk shopping there

[snowblight]

Thousands more like me.

I doubt it. I get the impression that some of the spending 'claims' on this thread are about trying to create an impression rather than having much basis in reality.

[RuffleCrow]

Haha @snowblight - luckily cold hard cash cares nothing for "wot you reckon".

There's a reason politicians and retailers fall over themselves to promote themselves on MN. Can you tell me what it is?

[birdsdestiny]

No it is my reality, not a claim. I am shopping for 2 suits this weekend for my children who are attending their grandmothers funeral next week. The thing about us 40 something plus women is on the whole we dont need to make things up on social media.

[Ineedacupofteadesperately]

Yes, haven't spent any money in M&S or JL and I would have spent 100s of pounds in them combined by now. No more.

But Birds Eye? I thought they resisted throwing women and girls under the bus, or is there something I don't know? I've been buying their potato waffles since 'potato' and we've developed an unhealthy addiction. I'll go cold turkey on the potato waffles if I have to though.

I too have found lots of independent retailers who don't spend loads of money on policies that repeatedly tell women and girls they don't give a shit how 'comfortable' they feel or whether they have basic safety. And repeatedly focus on men who desperately want to invade women and girls spaces and not take 'no' for an answer.

[Glenthebattleostrich]

I'm standing firm.

I didn't spend the £300+ in either of them on gifts, food and clothing. I've stopped popping to M&S for odd little bits and pieces when out. I even returned the Christmas presents I was bought including some lovely soft leather gloves. And explained rather loudly why I was returning everything, even showing my email to a couple of ladies in the queue behind me.

I have discovered some lovely independent shops though, mostly owned by women so it's a double win for me.

[snowblight]

There's a reason politicians and retailers fall over themselves to promote themselves on MN. Can you tell me what it is?

You make the mistake of thinking the majority of members share your views. Most of them avoid the supposed 'feminist' board like the plague and want nothing to do with the bigotry here.

[MissPoldark]

Stopped shopping in M&S before all that kicked off. I don’t want pants, socks and other clothes treated with anti-bacterials & anti fungals.

Would have spent more in John Lewis if they’d had stuff in stock.

[LangCleg]

You make the mistake of thinking the majority of members share your views. Most of them avoid the supposed 'feminist' board like the plague and want nothing to do with the bigotry here.

LOL. That's what the Labour Party said, dear.

[boo300]

don't knoe if this is relevant it probble is not but there chrmas decrons were a bit odd and incled a pink budder and speing onins it felt a bit odd for wat is a cristen holed the party theam thy had as well made me thik that they were trying to do a more secule chrems easpel wene one lioks at sandrys and what thay had called ther chrasm ball bales
I aploiges for speling im vry dilesxic

[boo300]

I ment to say jl had the odd decs

[snowblight]

made me thik that they were trying to do a more secule chrems

Wouldn't bother me. Most people who celebrate Christmas in this country couldn't care less about the reason behind it anyway.

[RuffleCrow]

@snowblight never have poster's style and name been more appropriate for one another!

Feminism is one of MN's most popular topics and has been for ages. Even if only 10% of users boycotted - that's still a loss of 200,000 customers. You can try to sprinkle your depressing blizzard over that all you like but we'll just plough on through your snowflakey slush like we always have.

[snowblight]

Even if only 10% of users boycotted - that's still a loss of 200,000 customers.

I believe that as much as I believe most of the exaggerations on here. Bit like the one where the majority of you have supposedly met a trans person in a changing room.

[Uncompromisingwoman]

You make the mistake of thinking the majority of members share your views. Most of them avoid the supposed 'feminist' board like the plague and want nothing to do with the bigotry here

Yet here you are - obsessively policing women, our thoughts and actions on here

[RuffleCrow]

@snowblight - we don't care what you think!

[Imnobody4]

First rule of marketing - keeping existing customers is cheaper and more effective than trying to get new ones at their expense. I've broken the M&S habit, plenty of alternatives out there.

[justcly]

@snowblight:

Cognitive dissonance. You want to watch that. It's habit-forming.

[Happygirl79]

M & S have lost their edge.
They don't know who their target market is anymore
I buy bra's from them but nothing else now.
Their cafe's are a disgrace
Dirty crockery
Miserable staff
Overpriced food

[VinandVigour]

Yes, still boycotting. Closed my M&S credit card too, which had a positive balance on it, so I got a nice refund. And the chap I dealt with made it clear that there was a whole list of women closing their card accounts, and that a spreadsheet was going to ‘senior staff’ daily!

The only M&S thing that came into the house was a gift of a box of chocolates, which I shall put into a raffle.

Unfortunately I can’t boycott Waitrose as it’s the only supermarket I can get to easily.