M&S. The trifle sells the blazer.
M&S has just had the biggest fashion turnaround in a generation, with profits at a 15-year high. It's doing it by opening food halls.
THE GIST ON M&S: "Not Just Any Food"
What has M&S pulled off?
The clothes have genuinely got great. People are stopping each other in the street to ask if that jacket's from M&S, which is mad. The brand your nan wore is now where millennials with money go. Influencers wear it, fashion editors write about it, and profits are at a 15-year high.
How is food involved?
Food makes 9 billion pounds of the business. Clothing is 4.2 billion. Right now M&S is closing clothing stores and opening 104 new food halls, because food is what's brought people back to the brand. Everyone has had the moment: you pay 7 pounds for Madagascan prawns and think, this is a bit of me.
Where is the real money?
Once food changed how you felt about M&S, clothing got a second chance it would never have had on its own. And clothing is where the margin is: about 5% on food but over 11% on clothing. So clothing made almost as much profit on half the revenue.
Why does it work?
Food creates the footfall and clothing converts it. The best trifle in the world is the way into the new blazer. Every struggling retailer has the same problem, getting people through the door often enough. You go to a clothes shop once a fortnight, and a food shop every couple of days. M&S put them together and turned fashion from a monthly decision into a weekly impulse. Be honest, the new clothes bang, don't they?
Do you buy M&S clothes or just the food?
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Quick answers
How many new food halls is M&S opening?
104, according to Huw, while closing some clothing stores.
Which part of M&S makes more profit per pound?
Clothing, at a margin of over 11% against about 5% for food.
Why does food help clothing sales?
You visit for food every couple of days, so it turns fashion from a monthly decision into a weekly impulse.
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