GETTING COOL AND SWANKY WITH MARKS & SPENCER

Marks & Spencer (M&S), one of UK’s leading retailers, has been a place for go-to pieces which look good all day, every day. The store offers an international shopping experience with an extensive range of high quality fashion and accessories across womenswear, menswear, lingerie, beauty --- all at great value. It also offers a selection of exceptional quality food and drinks including groceries, biscuits, confectioneries, savories and wines.

 

M&S is largely identified with its urban cool collections and perfectly cultivated wearables. The variety of choices speaks to men and women with an uninhibited urban spirit. Their collection gravitates along the lines of flexibility and comfort. To me, a clothing item from M&S can both look tailored and professional by the day, and stylish and chic by the night. This style versatility is what most would call a mix of business and leisure.

 

Last Friday, Marks & Spencer opened its store in SM Lanang Premier, with a completely new store format. Trading across 1,515 square meters, the new setup provides customers with a new shopping experience – making the store more inviting, inspiring and easy to shop for customers, with an exciting new take on fashion and food displays.

 

The store was unveiled with a live mannequin display, featuring the latest M&S collection. Models sashayed along the aisles, donned in a mix of basic daywear, calm neutrals, crisp and clean cuts, contemporary prints, and updated classics. The styling focused on comfort and adaptation while staying true to the elegance and classicism of the basic essentials.

The new format of the store provides each clothing brand its own distinct look and identity and allows customers to see which brand best meets their personal style preferences. By clearly segmenting each of the store’s popular clothing sub brands, M&S aims to improve the customer journey through improved navigation, a better store layout and more inspiring in-store customer experiences. This is highlighted for customers through unique branding, visual merchandising kit and propping.

 
I personally like classifying my clothes according to style and function to avoid hours of rummaging through an overload of different prints, seasons, and patterns. It’s easier to compose your fashion statement for the day when pieces are properly dichotomized. This goes the same when I go shopping.

 

I find comfort breezing through the aisles of M&S’s new store without losing myself in between racks. “Straightforward” best describes the store’s new format. It gives us enough breathing space to shift from one style to another. You can gracefully move from modern romanticism to the urban sophistication of the west side. Menswear is easily defined in varying sections from high octane opulence, deluxe sleekness to downtown appeal. The panoply of prints, colors, and style accoutrement is kept simple and uncomplicated --- enough to make Carrie Bradshaw proud.

 

Tooth fairy did quite a good job in filtering the confectioneries in the food hall. The display of saccharine delights is done strategically in a way that even the packaging screams of deliciousness even without a peek of what’s inside. The window alone welcomes kids with amplified cuteness of vintage tin cans and printed boxes filled with candies and chocolates. Those with sophisticated taste will find comfort in the selection of wines and other culinary fixings.

 

Anthony Tantoco Huang, the Executive Vice President of Stores Specialists Inc., said in his speech: “We’re delighted to open this store, and we are really pleased to have secured such a prime shopping location. Our new displays really showcase the very best of our stylish summer fashions and specialty food. We can’t wait for our customers to come and explore our brand new, more inviting and inspiring store.”

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Story published on my newspaper column, Metro Mom.
A1, INdulge section, Edge Davao, Vol. 6 Issue 68, 19 June 2013.