Marks and Spencers coming to Central

[wilcopops]

A few months back now Central started posting ads about M&S .....on making enquiries I was told "coming soon" but since then I haven'y heard a peep.

anyone know what is happening?

As i understood it, they were going to introduce a food range. I guess this would have meant kicking out Waitrose?

[namdocmai]

They are allready in Central Chaeng wattana but not with food.

[edwardandtubs]

In Central Chitlom (I think) or somewhere close and have been for years. Very poor selection.

[N47HAN]

Phuket for 5 or 6 years allready.

About 15sq m space !

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[wilcopops]

I think this was more than that - it sounded like a major deal. I ge the feeling that M&S have pulled to due to regulations about brining foodstuffs in.

[sam sen]

M&S have been at central world for years. prepare to be disappointed though; limited range and high prices.

[dom samui]

Are they comming both together?

Dom

[saakura]

I have seen them in a small corner on the ground floor of Central Rama 3 for about 5 years. Very overpriced and hardly any customers.

[tolsti]

I still buy knickers and socks at Central Festival Phuket. Yes, they are expensive but seem to way out last cheap imitation brands despite the efforts on my local laundry. I also have several pais or 'work' trousers purchased in M & S Bangkok and they are immaculate even after 3 years.

Sometimes you do get what you paid for.

[wilcopops]

Well the clothing range in UK is pretty big and it is in Singapore too. I think if they do it priorly they will have to get over import dutes and final pricing - after all most of the stuff comes from China in there first place. But I'm much more interested in their foods.

[nicolas18]

Central has had dedicated M&S floor sections at several of their branches for years and they have opened/renovated several of them recently. Not all branches carry food items though. Why anyone would want to shop at M&S is also quite puzzling since M&S products are overpriced and the clothes there are hideous.

[tonytigerbkk]

There has been an M&S at Central Bangna for years (at least 14 that I know of) but as mentioned by other posters, limited range and extortionate prices.

About 10 years ago I looked at their Christmas puddings and they were 500 baht for a single serving pudding.

Edited March 18, 2014 by tonytigerbkk

[robertthebruce]

Marks and Spencers, are not what they were, in the UK , especially ''London'' its ''John Lewis and ''Waitrose'' who have taken over, with there cutting edge, Range, and more up to date healthier food options..

Marks and Spencers, have been stuck in the 70's for years, hence the reason they are going down hill fast in the UK..

You just need to see the lines of people at the ''Checkouts'' at ''Waitrose' and the very few shoppers at ''Marks and Spencers''..

They rested on there laurels too long... even ''Twiggy'' could not pull them out of the dirt..

[pitrevie]

In Central Chitlom (I think) or somewhere close and have been for years. Very poor selection.

Also very expensive compared to the same items in the UK branches. Puzzling really now that most of their stuff is manufactured in the Far East unless of course it goes to the UK first and then is shipped to Thailand.

[wilcopops]

In Central Chitlom (I think) or somewhere close and have been for years. Very poor selection.

Also very expensive compared to the same items in the UK branches. Puzzling really now that most of their stuff is manufactured in the Far East unless of course it goes to the UK first and then is shipped to Thailand.

This is WHY i was so interested to find out what was happening - I'm aware that there have been small "pockets" of M&S around Thailand and elsewhere for years, but it LOOKED as if they were doing a major deal. This would have involved, like IKEA probably making stuff in Thailand (they already do BTW), and I thought they might be setting up more. this of course would bring the prices down.

BTW - Prices at M&S in UK are no longer very high as they have shifted production outside UK like all other clothing retailers. whether or not you LIKE the stuff is purely subjective, what you can't argue is that the quality and customer service are always good.

If you know anything about clothing manufacturing, compare the materials but more so the cut and stitching on M&S goods; they require pretty good standards.

another thing I like about M&S for men is they offer a wide variety of sizes - e.g. leg lengths, and jackets in L, M, or S back lengths. As a tall fairly slim person Thai large sizes are frequently no use to me as they are all to short in the back

[techno]

M&S have a large shop at Central Festival in Chiang Mai. Quite expensive but good quality clothing

[brewsterbudgen]

If M&S ready meals were available in Thailand I would be delighted.

[chris2004]

But will they sell pork or alcohol ?

[Cosmo88]

I certainly hope Waitrose (John Lewis) isn't going to be kicked out, their stuff is brilliant, if not life-saving!

M&S has been an obsolete company for years, I'm surprised it still even exists.

[Gillyflower]

I had heard from my English family that in the UK M&S wasn't much good anymore. They started a few shops in France. One was in my big town - Toulouse. They didn't last more than a couple of years. VERY expensive and poor quality. They had a very small corner for English food products and that was always busy. Now I have to come to Chiang Mai to get my English stuff.

[wilcopops]

I had heard from my English family that in the UK M&S wasn't much good anymore. They started a few shops in France. One was in my big town - Toulouse. They didn't last more than a couple of years. VERY expensive and poor quality. They had a very small corner for English food products and that was always busy. Now I have to come to Chiang Mai to get my English stuff.

your info maybe about 15 to 20 years out of date.

From making huge profits they quickly went downhill, they had a very unsuccessful "adventure" in Europe then that nearly put them out of business. They are now re-entering various foreign markets.

Edited March 18, 2014 by wilcopops

[HooHaa]

central have had an M&S alliance for years (15+). I used to go to central lad prao and central childom to buy chiplets every couple of weeks.

[edwardandtubs]

In London M&S are selling delicious food that you can take away or eat on venue for very good value. The beef ribs with potato wedges were fantastic and only £6.

[wilcopops]

Here's a list of overseas stores.

Armenia,

Bahrain,

Bermuda,

Bulgaria,

People's Republic of China,

Croatia,

Cyprus,

Czech Republic,

Egypt,

Estonia,

France,

Gibraltar,

Greece,

Guernsey,

Hong Kong,

Hungary,

India,

Indonesia,

Jersey,

Kazakhstan,

Kuwait,

Latvia,

Libya,

Lithuania,

Malaysia,

Malta,

Morocco,

Montenegro,

Netherlands,

Oman,

Philippines,

Poland,

Qatar,

Romania,

Russia,

Saudi Arabia,

Serbia,

Singapore,

Slovakia,

Slovenia,

South Korea,

Spain,

Thailand,

Turkey,

Ukraine,

United Arab Emirates.

seen by many older UK customers as a good place for "socks and underpants" - their marketing and stock has changed radically over the last decade.

Aboraod it looks as if depending on the location they market themselves as either mid=range or high-end retailers and stock accordingly.

if a new agreement has been reached with Central and Thai authorities, it could mean that M&S wil be available as a mid-rancg product range, which would bbs rather nice.

[wilcopops]

In London M&S are selling delicious food that you can take away or eat on venue for very good value. The beef ribs with potato wedges were fantastic and only £6.

They also have outlets on motorway service stations which quite frankly is a HUGE improvement on the utter garbage that used to be sold as food in those places.

BTW - in this respect they are in direct competition with Waitrose who have similar outlets. looking at the range of Waitrose goods, I notice that they are very similar to the range carried by Tops (central). This makes me think that M&S may have been negotiating to replace the Waitrose goods available in Tops supermarkets.

Edited March 18, 2014 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

central have had an M&S alliance for years (15+). I used to go to central lad prao and central childom to buy chiplets every couple of weeks.

Yes BUT - and this is the point of my OP - I got the impression that they were going to take tis a step further and they were advertising M&S in places out side BKK.

this may well be at the expense of Waitrose.

[Gillyflower]

Calm down Wilcopops!! I see by another thread that you have it in for me. Look to that one because I will be answering you later.. I did not mention WHAT period I was talking about. But it was about 15ish years ago.

I didn't realise that I had to be so precise. Do forgive me.

[wilcopops]

Calm down Wilcopops!! I see by another thread that you have it in for me. Look to that one because I will be answering you later.. I did not mention WHAT period I was talking about. But it was about 15ish years ago.

I didn't realise that I had to be so precise. Do forgive me.

"Have it in for " you????? - you should be so lucky - I seldom have ANY idea who i'm replying to - I look only at the content.

i just looked again at your post and indeed you put it forward as an assessment of M&S which anyone reading it would take as your CURRENT opinion. If you had put a caveat on it, it wouldn't have looked so inaccurate.

Edited March 18, 2014 by wilcopops

[meatboy]

Well the clothing range in UK is pretty big and it is in Singapore too. I think if they do it priorly they will have to get over import dutes and final pricing - after all most of the stuff comes from China in there first place. But I'm much more interested in their foods.

the only food I bought from them in the uk.was their egg custard tarts.

[ignis]

Went into Central and M&S about 10 years ago, wonderful they had Christmas Pudding and Christmas Cakes, but did not buy £ 112 for a Christmas cake and not even iced or very big !!!