Alerts & amp; Spencer Group plc (also known as M & amp; S ) is a major multinational UK retailer headquartered in Westminster City, London. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituency of the FTSE 100 Index.
It specializes in the sale of clothing, home products and fancy food products. M & amp; S was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds. The company also started selling branded goods such as Kellogg's Corn Flakes in November 2008. M & S currently has 979 stores across the UK including 615 which only sells food products.
In 1998, the company became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of more than £ 1bn, though then abruptly slumped, which took the company, its shareholders, which included hundreds of thousands of small investors, and almost all retail analysts and business journalists , surprisingly. In November 2009, it was announced that Marc Bolland, formerly of Morrisons, would take over as chief executive of chief executive Stuart Rose in early 2010; Rose remained in the role of non-executive chairman until she was succeeded by Robert Swannell in January 2011. In recent years, her clothing sales have declined while food sales have increased after the overthrow of "St. Michael" named their own brand..
On May 22, 2018, it was confirmed that more than 100 stores would be closed by 2022 in a "radical" plan. Whether all stores will be closed has not been confirmed.
Video Marks & Spencer
History
Establishment
The company was founded by a partnership between Michael Marks, a Polish Jew from S? Onim (Marks was born into a Polish-Jewish family, a Polish refugee living in the Russian Empire, now in Belarus), and Thomas Spencer, a cashier from the English market town of Skipton in North Yorkshire. Upon arriving in England, Marks worked for a company in Leeds, named Barran, who employed refugees (see Sir John Barran, 1st Baronet). In 1884 he met Isaac Jowitt Dewhirst while looking for a job. Dewhirst lent the Ã, Â £ 5 Marks he used to build his Penny Bazaar at Kirkgate Market, in Leeds. Dewhirst also taught him a little English. The Dewhirst cashier is Tom Spencer, the bookkeeper, whose second wife, Agnes, helps improve Mark's English. In 1894, when Marks obtained a permanent kiosk in Leeds's closed market, he invited Spencer to become his partner.
In 1901 Marks moved to the open market Birkenhead where he joined Spencer. The couple were allocated stalls number 11 & amp; 12 in the central aisle in 1903, and there they opened the famous Penny Bazaar. The company left Birkenhead Market on February 24, 1923.
The next few years, Michael Marks and Tom Spencer opened market stalls in many locations around the North West of England and transferred Leeds Penny Bazaar to 20, Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester.
Domestic growth
Marks and Spencer, known as "Marks and Sparks", or "M & amp; S", made a reputation in the early 20th century with the policy of selling only English-made goods (it began to retreat from this policy in the 1990s.) This goes into long-term relationships with British manufacturers, and sells clothing and food under the "St Michael" brand, which was introduced in 1928. This brand honors Michael Marks. He also receives returns of unwanted items, gives a full refund if the receipt is shown, no matter how long ago the product was purchased, which is unusual for the time being.
M & amp; S raised £ 5,000 to pay Supermarine Spitfire aircraft called The Marksman in 1941.
In 1950, almost all goods were sold under the label "St Michael". M & amp; S lingerie, women's clothing and women's school uniforms are labeled "St Margaret" until all the common products become "St Michael's". Simon Marks, son of Michael Marks, died in 1964, after fifty-six years of service. Israel Sieff, son-in-law of Michael Marks, took over as chairman and in 1968, John Salisse became Director of the company. Careful international expansion began with the introduction of Asian food in 1974. M & S opened a shop in continental Europe in 1975 and in Ireland four years later.
The company placed a major emphasis on quality, including a 1957 size measurement system. For much of its history, it also has a reputation for offering fair value for money. When this reputation began to falter, he experienced serious difficulties. Can be spelled out, M & amp; S has historically been an iconic retailer of 'Quality Goods of England'.
An uncompromising attitude towards customer relationships is summarized by the 1953 slogan: "Customers always always and completely true!"
Energy efficiency was enhanced by the addition of a thermostatically controlled refrigerator in 1963.
M & amp; S began selling Christmas cakes and Christmas puddings in 1958. In an effort to improve the quality of their Swiss rolls, they hired dietitian Nat Goldberg, who made great improvements throughout their cake range, which had lost public support a few years earlier. As a further step to improve the quality of food, improved food labeling and "on sale by date" has been done gradually between 1970 and 1972.
Smoking is prohibited from all M & amp stores S in 1959 because of the fire hazard it caused.
In 1972, Marcus Sieff became chairman, remained in place until 1984, and emphasized the importance of good staff relations with store traditions, while extending staff benefits to areas such as restaurants and chiropody.
International expansion
M & amp; S opened its first Asian shop in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1960. The company grew to Canada in 1973, and at one point had forty-seven stores across Canada. Despite efforts to improve his image, the chain can never move beyond his reputation there as an astute retailer, serving primarily for senior citizens and expatriate English. Shops in Canada are smaller than UK outlets, and do not have the same options. In the late 1990s, further efforts were made to modernize them and also expand the customer base. Unprofitable location is closed. Nevertheless, Canadian operations continue to lose money, and the last 38 stores in Canada were closed in 1999.
The expansion to France began with stores opened in Paris on Boulevard Haussmann and Lyon in 1975, followed by a second Paris shop in Rosny 2 in 1977. Further expansion into other French and Belgian cities followed into the 1980s. Although Paris stores remain popular and profitable, Western European operations as a whole did not go well and eighteen stores were sold in 2001. However, in April 2011, M & S changed directions again with announcements to reopen stores that would not only sell clothes but also food. In addition the group will also open several food outlets throughout the French capital. The first branch opened on November 24, 2011 at the Champs-ÃÆ'â € ° lysà ©  © es in a ceremony attended by CEO of Marc Bolland company, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley model and British Ambassador to France Sir Peter Westmacott. The Daily Mail reported that 1,000 customers were queuing outside for more than 2 hours at the opening of 1,400m 2 (15,000 sq ft) store.
In 1988, the company acquired Brooks Brothers, an American clothing company and Kings Super Markets, a US food chain.
In 2016 M & amp; S expanded to sell through the European market Zalando on the sites of Germany, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Austria them with a variety of children's clothing and underwear.
Financial downgrade
Advantages of M & amp; S peaked in the financial year 1997/1998. At the time it was seen as a sustained success story, but in hindsight, it was thought that during Mr. Richard Greenbury's tenure as head of the company, the profit margin was pushed to an untenable level, and his customer loyalty was severely eroded. The increasing cost of using British suppliers is also a burden, as competing retailers are increasingly importing their goods from low-cost countries, but the transfer of M & S to overseas suppliers undermines the core part of its appeal to the public. Another factor was the company's refusal until 2001 to accept any credit card except for its own card.
These factors are combined to drop M & amp; S into a sudden deterioration, which brought the company, its shareholders, which included hundreds of thousands of small investors, and almost all retail analysts and business journalists, in surprise. The company's share price fell by more than two-thirds, and its profits fell from more than one billion pounds in 1997 and 1998 to Ã, Â £ 145 million in the year ended 31 March 2001.
& Amp; Spencer launched an online shopping service in 1999.
In 2001, with changes in its business focus such as accepting credit cards, the introduction of George Davies' "Per Una" clothing line, and the redesign of the underlying business model, profits recovered somewhat.
In 2004, M & amp; S is in the throes of a takeover attempt by Arcadia Group and BHS boss, Philip Green. On July 12 a recovery plan was announced which would involve the sale of its financial services business M & S Money to HSBC Bank plc, bought control of the range of Per Una , close Gateshead Lifestore and stop the expansion of lines of food is that simple. Philip Green withdrew the takeover bid after failing to get enough support from shareholders.
In February 2007, M & amp; S announced the opening of M & amp; S largest in the world outside the UK at Dubai Festival City. On October 2nd, 2008, M & amp; S opened the first mainland China store in Shanghai. Problems with the supply chain for the first few months of the opening opening of Stuart Rose, chairman of M & S, to describe the failure in the "shopkeeper base".
Restructuring
Twenty-two unprofitable and small food stores, such as those at Ripon and Balham, closed in early 2009 as part of cost-cutting. In August 2010, it was confirmed that the Grantham branch of M & amp; S will be closed, along with two other Lincolnshire branches in Skegness and Scunthorpe due to lower sales in these older format stores. The closure was greeted with protests from local communities and a petition was signed to support store storage, although they continued.
The Retail Bank of Knowledge conducted an audit of the company's brand in August 2010, and revealed that sales of women's clothing were at their lowest level in 10 years. This audit covers both Limited Collection, Autograph, Weekend Autograph, Classical Collection, Per Una, Portfolio and Indigo. Draper magazine claims that Per Una is the only clothing brand that is not at risk of being fired while Marc Bolland considers which brand will be retained. Per Una is set to remain because of his successful and distinctive talent, but Portofolio and Indigo are set to go because of bad sales. Both the Limited Collection, the Autograph, the Autograph Weekend, the Classic Collection, the brand is being considered to be set aside during mid-2010, but are then given a reprieve.
On November 9, 2010, chief executive Marc Bolland revealed plans to strengthen the company's overall brand image and target sales between ¥ 800 million and  £ 1 billion for the company that will increase capital expenditures up to  £ 850 million Ã,  £ 900 million over the next three years. to fund the plan. The plan also involves the termination of the fashion brand 'Portfolio' and the sale of electrical products. The company also announced a new marketing chain strap, 'Only in M ​​& amp; S ', and it will change its website.
Bolland ordered new store designs in May 2011, and it was announced that the company would spend about Ã, Â £ 600 million between 2011 and 2014 in stores in the UK, involving the launch of different store formats based on age, prosperity and demographics of people- people in the area. The design also includes a new "navigation scheme" test within the store, which follows research showing that buyers find M & amp store layouts confusing and "hard to shop at". It also confirms that the amount of money promotions and offers offered will increase, and that will replace Marks & Spencer labels on clothing with "M & amp; S Woman" and "M & amp; S Man".
In 2013, the apparel division of M & amp; S has 11% market share in the UK.
In May 2013 saw the launch of the Best of British range as well as the reshuffle of Per Una and Indigo . Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne became the new marketing director, replacing Steven Sharp in July. Mark Bolland also vowed to bring "quality and style back" M & S also stated that it was intended to increase the number of British suppliers from 20 at the time.
In November 2013, it was revealed that Bill Adderley, founder of Dunelm Group household appliances network, has amassed a stock worth £ 250 million in M ​​& S for the last 18 months. This disclosure made as a stock market rule means that each holding more than 3 percent of shares must be made public.
On January 7, 2016 it was announced that Marc Bolland, who has been CEO since 2010, will resign on 2 April 2016, and was replaced by Steve Rowe, clothing chief, and former head of the food business.
shop brush 2015-16
The shops identified for closure in July 2015 include Woolwich, Walsall, Erdington, Aldershot (existing since 1922), Pontypridd in Wales, Hounslow in west London, and Royal Quays in North Shields, three full-line shops in Stevenage, Wood Green in north London, and The Fort's shopping park at Castle Bromwich and Simply Food at Castle Bromwich. The Lewisham store also lost the floor. The closure in 2015 also includes three traditional food and clothing stores, one Simply Food store and four Outlet stores selling season-ending clothing. About 430 workers are affected by the closure. The cost of extermination reached up to £ 200 million to be implemented; closures including loss-making shops in European markets such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands as well as outposts in China.
storage 2017-18 store
Several small shops were identified for closure in November 2017. On January 31, 2018, fourteen stores were identified for closure. Stores due to closure in April include one of their oldest presence, which is in downtown Birkenhead. Other stores to be closed, in the same month, are in Bournemouth, Durham, Fforestfach, Putney, and Redditch. Meanwhile, eight other stores are allocated for closure at a later date, awaiting consultation; they are in Andover, Basildon, Bridlington, Falmouth, Fareham, Keighley, Stockport and outlet stores in Denton, Greater Manchester.
Mid-store 2018 cull
M & amp manager S confirmed that 14 other stores would be dismissed and 86 others under investigation, and thus given a warning, due to declining corporate sales and customer stages; on May 23, 2018, the total reached more than 100 in the first half of 2022, as the company's earnings slumped 62% in the middle of the store closing plan, it is considered to be losing money and hopes it will help revive profits through the company's website.
- Shop at Champs-ÃÆ' â € ° lysÃÆ' Â © es in Paris, beginning of 2018.
Maps Marks & Spencer
Company issues
Headquarters location
M & amp headquarters S for a hundred years at Michael House, 55 Baker Street, London. In 2004 the company moved into a new head office designed by mossessian & amp; partner at Waterside House, in the new Paddington Basin, London.
As well as the main office in London, there are a number of other central office sites in the UK; Stockley Park (IT Services), Salford Quays and Spinningfields, Greater Manchester (Marks & Spencer Shared Services Ltd. providing human resources and financial administration) and Chester (M & M Money and Customer Service of HSBC Customers).
The company has overseas sourcing offices in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Turkey, China, Italy, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
Financial performance
M & amp; S is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Financial performance has been as follows:
Until 1999 M & amp; S's finances expire on March 31st. Since then, the company has turned into reporting for a period of 52 or 53 weeks, ending on a variable date.
Social and environmental policies
"View Behind the Label"
In 2006, the Look Behind the Label marketing campaign was introduced. The purpose of this campaign is to highlight to customers a variety of ethical and eco-friendly aspects of production and sourcing methods undertaken by M & S includes: Fairtrade products, sustainable fishing and eco-friendly textile dyes. All coffee and tea are sold in M ​​& amp; now is Fairtrade. In addition, the company offers clothing lines made of Fairtrade cotton in selected ministries.
On Christmas Day, the company introduced a variety of food products to support the housing charity shelter.
On January 15, 2007, M & amp; S launched the initiative, known as "Plan A", to dramatically improve the business environment sustainability in 5 years and is expected to cost Ã, Â £ 200 million.
The plan includes "100 commitments over 5 years to address the major social and environmental challenges facing M & S current and future" with the line tag "Because there is no Plan B". The commitment covers five themes: climate change, waste, sustainable feedstock, 'fair partnership' and health, with the aim that, by 2012, it will:
- Become a carbon neutral
- Do not throw garbage into a landfill
- Extend sustainable sources
- Help improve the lives of people in their supply chain
- Help customers and employees lead a healthier lifestyle
Despite falling 18% in share prices in January 2008, after the publication of their latest trade statement, the company insists that they will proceed with the plan, saying that there is an 'exciting commercial - as well as a moral - reason for doing so'.
M & amp; S introduced a reusable hessian bag in 2007 as part of the plan, aiming to reduce the number of plastic bags used in five years. This was followed in May 2008 by the introduction of a 5p fee for a standard sized carrier bag used for food purchases (before this fee became mandatory). All profits from the sale of food bags initially went to charity Groundwork UK; M & amp; S launched the "Forever Fish" campaign in June 2011 and transferred funding to the campaign to promote the protection of marine animals in the UK.
In becoming carbon neutral, the company has committed to only use carbon offsetting as a last resort, limited to cases "where required by government or where technology for air transport or green roads will not be available for the foreseeable future".
In August 2008, M & amp; S has three operating wind turbines, one in Methlick and two near Strichen, generating enough power to supply three stores through the National Grid. In April 2009 the company started buying 2.6 TWh of renewable energy (wind and hydroelectric) from Npower, enough to empower all Marks & amp; Spencer's shops and offices in England and Wales.
In 2012 the company was awarded the European Business Award for Environment (Management Category) by the European Union for Plan A.
Charity work
M & amp; S has been selling a wide range of women's charity outfits for Breast Cancer Breakthroughs for years and the Ashbourne store collected a total of Ã, £ 2,000 for the new Derbyshire hospital ECG machine in 2010. In 2011 M & S launched the recycling of oxfam clothing initiatives.
On July 29, 2015, the company hosted their first 'Spark Something Good' event as part of the 'Plan A' initiative. Hundreds of volunteers work for "... 24 hours on 24 projects" at various charities in the UK.
Senior management
The following has served as Chairman of the company since its inception:
- 1884-1907: Michael Marks (founded the first kiosk in Leeds in 1884)
- 1907-1916: William Chapman.
- 1916-1964: Simon Marks (Lord Marks)
- 1964-1967: Israel Sieff (Lord Sieff)
- 1967-1972: Edward Sieff
- 1972-1984: Marcus Sieff (Lord Sieff)
- 1984-1991: Derek Rayner (Lord Rayner)
- 1991-1999: Mr. Richard Greenbury
- 2000-2004: Luc Vandevelde
- 2004-2006: Paul Myners
- 2006-2009: Lord Burns
- 2009-2010: Sir Stuart Rose
- 2011-2017: Robert Swannell
- 2017-now: Archie Norman
Shop
English and Irish
The largest store is at Marble Arch, on Oxford Street in London, which has about 16,000 square meters (170,000 sq ft) from the shop floor. The second largest is in Cheshire Oaks, Ellesmere Port, which is the largest city outside London. The third largest store is at Gemini Retail Park in Warrington. In 1999 M & amp; S opened his shop on the Manchester Stock Exchange, which was destroyed in a bombing and rebuilt in 1996. At the reopening, it was an M & S largest with 23,000m 2 (250,000 sqÃ, ft) of retail space, but half later sold to Selfridges, the site of the two companies in Manchester. The smallest branch is an outlet located at Grainger Market in Newcastle upon Tyne.
M & amp; S has opened a number of stores outside the city because the trend to build shopping centers away from the city center became popular in the 1980s. The first is at MetroCentre, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, which opened in 1986. Another important example is the store at Merry Hill Shopping Center in Brierley Hill, West Midlands. The store opened on October 23, 1990 shortly after closing the shop in the nearby town center of Dudley and West Bromwich; The Merry Hill store was not originally intended to replace the two downtown stores, but both Dudley and West Bromwich stores were down in trade as Merry Hill's store opening loomed, and both stores closed on August 25, 1990.
Prior to Christmas 2006, twenty-two M & amp; S opened for 24 hour trading including a new retail park store opened in Bolton Middlebrook and at Abbey Center, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.
The company's website has received criticism for its price in Pound sterling and not in euro, and to provide searches for its Irish stores through "UK Store Finder". The Irish Times shows that M & S failed to explain why the company was in a position to deliver the goods ordered from its website to Brazil, Argentina, Iraq and Afghanistan but not to Ireland. M & amp; S did not comment.
International
The company reopened its shop in Paris on November 24, 2011, following the launch of the new French website on October 11, 2011. In the Philippines there are 18 M & S, the largest located in Greenbelt Mall. A new store opened on April 17, 2013 at Kalverstraat in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, more than 10 years after the closing of the previous store. On September 17, 2013, the British ambassador to the Netherlands, Sir Geoffrey Adams, opened the Sign & amp; The Spencer Food pilot shop at the BP gas station at Bijleveld beside the A12 motorway. There are more than 300 stores in about 40 locations overseas.
On November 11, 2013, & amp; Spencer announced "that there will be about 80 stores opened in the region by 2016 as part of its strategy to become a leading international retailer, multichannel" with Reliance Retail partners. It opened a major store in Bandra in Mumbai. S & P sales for lingerie accounts for more than a fifth of sales in the Indian market, with total lingerie sales up by a third over the last six months of 2013. In May 2014, Signs & amp; Spencer announced that their intention now is to open 100 stores in the country by 2016.
In the Netherlands, by 2015, M & S has a supermarket on the expensive shopping street of Kalverstraat in Amsterdam, as well as a larger store including clothes in The Hague. A number of SPBU BP in the West of the Netherlands including a convenient food store in M ​​& amp; In 2016, M & amp; S will open a much larger store in Amsterdam, with a direct connection to a new metro station.
Number of Alerts & amp; Spencer Shop, starting January 14, 2016.
Saving format
The core store
Core stores M & amp; S usually features a selection of corporate clothing and A food hall. The range of clothing sold and the space given for it depends on the location and demographics of the customer (for example is that some London stores do not provide the Classical Collection, but the Limited Collection inventory and the full Autograph range). Most of the core stores have Food hall. The current store format was designed by Urban Salon Architects in 2009.
M & amp; S Foodhall
All st Michael Food hall supermarket is named M & amp; S Food hall when Marks & amp; Spencer dropped the brand of St Michael in 2000. Every M & S Foodhall sells groceries, all of which are under Marks & amp; Brand Spencer. However, in 2009 the company began selling various other limited brands, such as Coca-Cola and Stella Artois, without reducing the number of M & they are for sale. This marks the first time in the 125-year history that marks & amp; Spencer has sold any brand other than its own brand.
M & amp; S introduced self check-out tills in the food-room of a small number of experimental stores in 2002. Self check-out was conducted in the general merchandise section at three experimental stores in 2006.
Hospitality
Many large stores, such as Lisburn Sprucefield, Westfield, the White City, Cribbs Causeway and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, also offer other hospitality outlets, such as the modern Deli Bar (champagne, canapà ©, seafood) Restaurant (table service - first opened in Newcastle) M & amp; S Kitchen (traditional home cooking & lunch) or Hot Food To Go (burger, chips, soup). Many of these outlets are run in conjunction with the Compass Group under franchising arrangements.
Home shops
In 2007, M & amp; S announced that a new store dedicated to home furnishings will be launched. Shops have now opened at Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, Tunbridge Wells in Kent, Lisburn Sprucefield in Northern Ireland and in the Barton Square section of The Trafford Center, Manchester.
Outlet stores
In 2010, M & amp; S has 50 outlet outlets and expansion plans for future growth. Outlet Division offers M & amp; S with the majority of the discount at least 30% of the original sale price. The first of these stores opened at Ashford in Kent in 2000. Many Outlet stores are located in locations such as retail parks and outlet centers, although some, including stores in Woolwich, South London and Newton Abbot, Devon were previously major M & Store S that is converted to Outlet format. Meadow Bank Outlet Store in Edinburgh became the model for all Marks and Spencer Outlets outlets in early 2010. There is now a store that incorporates M & amp; S and Outlet stores to create a store that offers a full price range of M & S current and discounted Outlet range: one of these stores is at Lewisham Shopping Center, where the top level previously closed from the M & amp; S reopened in January 2009 as Sub-Store Outlet format;
M & amp; S Food Only
M & amp; S launched the Convenient, Simply Food branded format in 2001, with the first store opening at Twickenham and Surbiton. The shops mainly sell food but also carry a small selection of general merchandise.
A number of these are executed under a franchise agreement:
- The SSP Group runs shops at major railway stations and airports.
- Moto owns a store at its 37 motorway service stations.
- BP has more than 120 gas stations with the offer of Simply Food .
In 2011 it was noted that M & amp; S operates at an express price; ie, collect more in Simply Food branches than in regular branches. A spokesman stated that "prices are slightly higher than in our high street shops but this reflects the fact that these stores are open for longer and are very convenient for customers on the go".
The Simply Food brand has been phased out in all the larger stand-alone stores since the rebranding process in 2015 and the stores have now been given the trademark as "M & S Foodhall."
Online services
Products can be ordered online since the mid-2000s, in response to Tesco's launching of their pioneering Tesco.com home delivery service in the early 2000s. Good Tesco, M & amp; S and others growing rapidly into this new niche market. Online interest services are accused of unfair trade and using Google to piggy-back advertise on online searches aimed at Interflora online in 2010.
John Lewis shopping chain beat M & S to the title of the best highway website in the UK by the end of 2010.
In May 2013, the Republic of Ireland is currently handling more than 50% of online trading.
Product line history
The company's range includes clothing for men, women and children, as well as home and food products. In this range, M & amp; S uses a number of own brands, such as those used in women's clothing divisions, including Indigo Collection Junior, Indigo Collection, and Portfolio. Indigo Collection is for women over the age of 30, while Portfolio is for people over 45 years old. In 2010, M & amp; S has 10 sub-brands in women's clothing and 6 sub-brands in men's clothing, after brand decline.
& Amp; Spencer sold clothes under St Margaret's and St Michael's labs in the mid-1950s and launched their school uniforms in the early 1950s, but was removed in the early 2000s as a part of the company's modernization plan.
In Mark & ​​â € Interior design M & amp; The relatively successful S 'Home' was launched in 2005 and featured products such as vases, furniture and beds. Just online children 'Living the Dream' range Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen memorabilia and merchandise were launched in September 2009. Merchandise also deals with fellow racer Jenson Button added to the range during April 2010. M & amp; S launched the "Plus Fit" range for overweight children in selected stores in July 2010. It has proven to be a popular line. Per Una
"Per Una" was launched on September 28, 2001 as a joint venture between M & S and the next Founder George Davies with Julie Strang's contribution. The Per Una brand has been a huge success for the company, and in October 2004, M & S bought the brand in Ã, Â £ 125Ã,Â, a two-year service contract with George Davies. Mr. Davies must stay in at least two years to run the company, with 12 months notice required if he wants to leave.
Old label
The "St Michael" brand was introduced by Simon Marks in 1928 in honor of his father and founder of Marks & Spencer, Michael Marks. In 1950, almost all goods were sold under the St Michael brand. M & amp; S lingerie, women's clothing and girls uniforms were branded under the St Margaret brand, until the whole range of general merchandise became St Michael's. Tricell synthetic fibers were first used in 1957 and lasted until the 1970s. and other synthetic fibers called Courtelle were first launched, nationally, by Marks & amp; Spencer during the 1960s and also survived until the 1970s. The machine washable wool first appeared in 1972 and Lycra's socks first appeared in 1986.
M & amp; S launched their own domestic brand products, such as washing powder and aluminum foil in 1972, under the brand name 'Home care'. The 'Orient Express Tagged' brand 1996-1997 was the first of many new brands, mostly in feminine clothing and children's clothing. The 'Orient Express Tagged' brand is part of the inspiration behind the 'Portfolio' brand. The male Autograph brand was later launched in 2000 and continues to this day.
In 2004, Sir Stuart Rose slashed a number of brands including the men's clothing brand "SP Clothing", a series of sports "View From", the range of David Beckham's "DB07" children and several lines of food because he thought the stock inventory management had become ' '. The Per Per version devoted to teenagers, "Per Una Due", was also discontinued, although it was launched earlier this year, due to poor sales.
The company also started selling branded goods such as Kellogg's Corn Flakes in November 2008. After a review by Marc Bolland in 2011, M & S confirms that it will start reducing the number of branded merchandise sold, rather than just offering items that have no M & S for.
Marketing
New logo
During the height of the company's problems at the beginning of the 21st century, the brand St Michael is used as a sales label for all M & discontinued to support Flags & amp; Spencer and a new logo in Optima typeface are introduced and start appearing in place of St Michael on product packaging. The same logo is also applied to store fascias and carrier bags. The name St Michael was later adopted as a 'quality assurance' and emerged as the St Michael Quality Promise behind the food products, on the side of the delivery vehicle and the store's order receipt.
M & amp; S you
When Steve Sharp joined as marketing director in 2004, after being hired by new Chief Executive Sir Stuart Rose, he introduced a brand new promotion under the banner of Your M & S , with the appropriate logo.
High profile media campaigns
M & amp; S has always run newspaper and/or Magazine ads since the early 1950s, but the introduction of some famous stars like Twiggy and David Jason in various TV commercials has helped raise the company profile. Twiggy first appeared in 1967, back in 1995 and 2005. Anne Grierson was first shown in advertisements during the late 1950s and most of the 1960s. In recent years, Erin O'Connor, Myleene Klass, Tanja Nadjila, Peter Kay, David Beckham, Antonio Banderas, Claudia Schiffer, Helena Christensen, Tatjana Patitz, Lisa Snowdon, Dannii Minogue, VV Brown and Carmen Kass also featured some ads, along with many others. John Sergeant, David Jason and Joanna Lumley have appeared or voiced advertisements since 2008.
The new look has been instrumental in the company's recent revival, especially with the success of a new clothing campaign featuring the famous model, Twiggy, and younger models related to the 2005-6 bohemian style, and a new TV advertising campaign for its food. distance. This ad has a line tag "It's not just food, it's M & S food" and slow-motion features, close-up snippets of various food products, explained in a sullen voice Dervla Kirwan, to an interesting instrumental song - notably "Albatross "Fleetwood Mac" and Santana "Samba Pa Ti", Olly Murs "" Busy ", Groove Fleet" At the River "or Spandau Ballet's" True ". This ad has been referred by fans and critics as food pornography , with a number of other companies copying ideas, such as Aldi and, most recently, Waitrose.
The 2009 TV ad campaign attracted many complaints, leading to national press coverage, on sexism.
In 2010, it was confirmed that Dannii Minogue will be one of the new faces of Marks & amp; Spencer. She filmed her first ad in South Africa, featuring Cheryl Lynn's "Got to Be Real", for their Spring campaign that aired on March 24th. Dannii traveled to Miami, Florida in January 2011 to pick up an ad for M & S for Spring 2011 collection, before termination of his contract. In August 2011, M & amp; S announced a new face of their campaign is Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Ryan Reynolds, and David Gandy.
& Amp; Spencer dropped a series of television commercials planned in July 2011, featuring Twiggy, Dannii Minogue and VV Brown as he embarked on a change of corporate image. It confirms that Twiggy, Lisa Snowden and Jamie Redknapp will be returning for advertising in the future.
On March 31, 2014, M & S launches new iterations of 'Leading Ladies' marketing campaign featuring figures including Emma Thompson, Annie Lennox, Rita Ora, and Baroness Lawrence.
Controversy
Israel
& Amp; Spencer has been criticized by pro-Palestinian activists for what they claim to be his past support for Zionism, and to trade fruit with Israel. A shop in Brighton was marred in 2004 with pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist graffiti.
The company stated, "We are dealing with politicians and officials, in government and opposition.We do not support or direct ourselves to political parties and do not make political contributions."
Comprehensive Spending Review
In October 2010, chairman Sir Stuart Rose was a controversial letters signing for The Daily Telegraph claiming that "The private sector must be more than capable of generating additional work to replace those lost in the public sector, and the removal of people people to more productive activities will improve economic performance, resulting in more job opportunities ", despite the recent layoffs of 1,000 staff. This encourages calls to boycott Marks & amp; Spencer and the companies represented by other signatories to the letter.
Uncontacted payment issues
Multiple Signs & amp; Spencer's customers claim that an unattended payment terminal has taken money from a card other than those intended for payment. The contactless card should be within about 4 cm from the front of the terminal to work. M & amp; S investigates the incident and ensures the new system has been extensively tested and robust. Recently launched a contactless payment system, provided by Visa Europe, to 644 stores in the UK.
Muslim check-staff policy
In December 2013, & amp; Spencer announces that Muslim cashier staff in the UK can refuse to sell pork or alcohol products to customers in their premises. This policy was announced after at least one news outlet reported that customers who were waiting with items including pork or alcohol were denied service, and were told by a Muslim checkout worker to wait until the others became available. This policy applies to all 703 M & S UK and encourage strong reaction by customers.
A company spokesman later apologized and stated that they would try to reassign staff whose beliefs could affect their work to different departments, such as clothing.
References
Bibliography
External links
- Official website
- Store Finder
- Plan an environmental initiative
- Spark Something Good Initiative Charity
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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