Is M and S about to make the same error as Dr Beeching?
As news of a round of Marks and Spencer Store closures (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45143404) comes today, I am forced to admit that I may be part of the problem. I do shop at marks and Sparks for most of my clothing but often order online before collecting either at a food store. The food store is either one in a nearby retail park, or on the motorway services.
In 1953 Dr Beeching presented a review of the railways, which led to the famous Beeching cuts. The report identified the profitable main routes and the loss-making local routes. The reasoning was that by cutting the loss-making routes the profitable routes would continue to make money, thereby costing the country less. Being a nationalised industry this meant less public spending. the result was that the whole railway system went into a rapid decline. Whether the rise of the car was the cause or an effect of the Beeching cuts may be arguable. The system as a whole was more than a sum of its parts. Cutting off the flabby bits, injured the whole, rather than making the rest leaner.
The same argument could be made for Marks and Spencer's current round of cuts. As a case in point I now live and work on the rail line between Bedford and Harpenden (St Albans), there is a direct line which links up the main places I go to in my weekly living. I have a car but don't use it often. I often use the stores in Luton, and Bedford to do my clothes shopping. These are both on the closure list.
When I shop for clothes I am looking for a fit and style. I sometimes use a few internet stores, but am wary of buying things that I may have to return. Returning things is effort and pain. Often I find stuff in the main store where I like the product, but I don't want to buy it there and then. Either the store does not have the size I want in the style I want, or the queue is too long, or sometimes I simply don't want to carry it around town. I photograph the label, then use M and S's website to order it for delivery to a local food store. I may not finish the transaction in the larger store, but it is these store where I make the purchase decision.
As a customer I appreciate that I am only one data point, I cannot say how many more share my shopping habits. If there are more like me then I would suggest that M and S's internet, and food-hall success, may start with the trust and presence you have built in your larger city centre stores. As a system M and S is larger than the sum of its parts. To Mr Rowe, I would suggest looking beyond the beans and seeing the whole.
In 1953 Dr Beeching presented a review of the railways, which led to the famous Beeching cuts. The report identified the profitable main routes and the loss-making local routes. The reasoning was that by cutting the loss-making routes the profitable routes would continue to make money, thereby costing the country less. Being a nationalised industry this meant less public spending. the result was that the whole railway system went into a rapid decline. Whether the rise of the car was the cause or an effect of the Beeching cuts may be arguable. The system as a whole was more than a sum of its parts. Cutting off the flabby bits, injured the whole, rather than making the rest leaner.
The same argument could be made for Marks and Spencer's current round of cuts. As a case in point I now live and work on the rail line between Bedford and Harpenden (St Albans), there is a direct line which links up the main places I go to in my weekly living. I have a car but don't use it often. I often use the stores in Luton, and Bedford to do my clothes shopping. These are both on the closure list.
When I shop for clothes I am looking for a fit and style. I sometimes use a few internet stores, but am wary of buying things that I may have to return. Returning things is effort and pain. Often I find stuff in the main store where I like the product, but I don't want to buy it there and then. Either the store does not have the size I want in the style I want, or the queue is too long, or sometimes I simply don't want to carry it around town. I photograph the label, then use M and S's website to order it for delivery to a local food store. I may not finish the transaction in the larger store, but it is these store where I make the purchase decision.
As a customer I appreciate that I am only one data point, I cannot say how many more share my shopping habits. If there are more like me then I would suggest that M and S's internet, and food-hall success, may start with the trust and presence you have built in your larger city centre stores. As a system M and S is larger than the sum of its parts. To Mr Rowe, I would suggest looking beyond the beans and seeing the whole.
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