Everything that happens at Marks & Spencer, the 132-year-old high street retailer, causes more drama than its peers. Predictably, the news last week that M&S plans to close 30 UK stores and convert 45 others into food-only sites created quite a stir. The retailer’s shops are the bedrock of high streets in towns and cities across the country, and have been for years, so any change is noticed by the locals.
The closures are an admission of defeat: that M&S cannot make its clothing popular enough to justify the amount of space dedicated to selling it across the country. It is a costly admission too: it will cost M&S £150m to rework its UK shops over the next three years and a further £200m to shut struggling shops abroad.
However, it was the right move by Steve Rowe, the M&S chief executive. If anything, he should have been more radical. In an online world where marksandspencer.com is the company’s biggest shop, it would be foolish for the retailer to stick with a business model from a previous generation. M&S has significantly more stores than rivals John Lewis and Debenhams, and significantly larger ones than rivals that, like M&S, only sell own-brand clothing, such as Zara and H&M. One of the reasons that M&S’s clothing range can look so dowdy is that there is so much retail space to fill: it can’t possibly get everything right.
In contrast to M&S’s clothing, its food business has a clear upmarket position. This Christmas, families will flock to M&S for their festive fare. With Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose dramatically cutting back investment, M&S has a glorious opportunity to expand.
Having said all this, M&S should not start treating its clothing arm as a secondary consideration within the group. Cutting the amount of the space dedicated to clothing gives the company an opportunity to rethink its approach to fashion. Rowe must surely follow the success of the food business and make M&S clothing more aspirational.
