My inspiration from this article comes from the lecture on Tim Horton’s expansion to Dubai.
A decade after shutting down stores and laying off 1700 French employees, British food and fashion giant Marks & Spencer intends to return to serve its customers across the English channel.
Coming from Singapore, I have known Marks & Spencer for being a high-end grocery (and fashion) outlet for the affluent to do their shopping. To me, a product from Marks & Spencer is a Veblen good.
An online store has been set up (this time in French) to appeal to the French masses. History always tells us that the French have been very proud of their language. Following this, the British chain’s international website will also be launched here in France – highlighting the amount of investment poured into its European neighbour.
According to reports, 70% of Marks & Spencer’s brand awareness come from women. Based on this information, the grocery store in France has stocked up women’s ware and food products – a move that will hopefully target the correct consumers.
As of now, the British grocery (and fashion) giant could benefit from the current exchange rate: £1 = 1.14 euros. This is an added incentive for Marks & Spencer to export to French cities now, while costs are comparatively low and profits are marginally higher.
Citation:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/1158669/1/.html
Photo:
http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=Marks+%26+Spencer&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1680&bih=916&tbm=isch&tbnid=XgYyVWa1GiMRxM:&imgrefurl=http://theretailinspector.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/this-isn%25E2%2580%2599t-just-any-old-year-this-is-an-ms-year%25E2%2580%25A6/&docid=LXqg50sWpmxh5M&w=321&h=250&ei=-WiVTriDIamUiAKC4-XPBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=579&vpy=204&dur=697&hovh=196&hovw=252&tx=134&ty=93&page=1&tbnh=159&tbnw=202&start=0&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0
