Apparently, the iconic British brand, M&S, has opened a branch in Marbella. Presumably the aim is to be able to provide British ex-pats, & tourists, with all their familiar home comforts, & on the face of it that might not be such a bad basis for opening a store. After all Brits make up about a quarter of all foreign tourists to visit Spain.
However, I really have to wonder about the timing of the move. Ok, it looks like the economic slump may be coming to an end but even so it seems to me like quite a risky move. In the fairness M&S have said that opening the store is a “toe in the water”, to test the Spanish market, but is now really the time for such experiments? On one hand, the recent low prices in the Spanish property market have to be a good reason to make such a move now, you would think it’s certainly got to decrease the start up costs, and if Spanish property does start regaining its value, as some are suggesting is the case, then picking a store up now may even be a shrewd investment!
Still, if M&S’s target audience for the new store is Brits abroad, (it seems like a fair guess) then the timing starts to look a little more questionable to me. Britain’s slow recovery from recession means that many Brits are still going to be watching the pennies and avoiding foreign holidays, a factor likely to be exacerbated by the current poor Pound:Euro exchange rate, & reflected by the 15% drop in British visitors which Spain has experienced over the past year. What makes the move stranger is that this isn’t the first time that M&S have opened stores in Spain, the previous venture ended in the sale of the nine stores when they failed to make a profit. Still, the thinkers at M&S have no doubt considered all of this, and are presumably willing to accept a loss in the short term.
I suppose a big question is whether they’ll extend their recent move to stock non-M&S branded goods to the new store? Are we to be treated to M&S Marbella car hire? lol
Tags: News
Amazing as always
I think it’s a great idea, it’ll be nice being able to get some classy M&S gear while on the hols in Spain! Wonder what sort of stuff they’ll sell compared to the English stores? Can see lingerie selling well out in there, but with all that heat I bet christmas hampers aren’t exactly going to be a big seller, LOL!