Marks & Spencer Marbella

[chaosvilla]

M and S have decided to keep the 90 day return, till after xmas, after a lot of media stories, saying people wouldnt be buying there this xmas!!!!

So sometimes media pressure does work!!!

What would all you men in Spain do without the ususal socks and underwear thats usually given as xmas presents, at least you can take them back, to the new store, and get a refund!!!!!

Regards

[yummymummy]

I was interviewed for a role there. Its opening in November. Not sure what the pay is like in the UK but pretty low here given they are requesting bi-lingual skills. Curious to know what exchange rate they will use. If its anything like Accesorize then its worth the drive down to Gib instead.

[Retro P]

This is great news for me. my ( underwear) sent from the UK. Marbella is a (wee) bit closer...

[princess peach]

That pic of twiggy up there!!...she looks more like Ozzy Osbourne..

[HKM]

Is it opening this Saturday?

HKM

[sassy]

It opens on the 17th November.

[Zofia]

It opens on the 17th November.

Oooh that's my birthday!

[katy]

Did anyone go? Thought the forum would have been full of experiences due to all the excitement Should get a decent turkey there.

[Paula]

Maybe a frozen turkey, or tinned only going to be a small food section like Gib.

[sassy]

Did anyone go? Thought the forum would have been full of experiences due to all the excitement Should get a decent turkey there.

I went yesterday afternoon, not impressed at all! Don't bother looking for a fresh turkey, they have some frozen ready meals, biscuits, mince pies & bits & pieces but if you think the food hall in Gib is small, this is miniscule, its a couple of food shelves! They did actually have a fair amount of space dedicated to wine, which seeing as we are living in a large wine producing country seems a bit daft, surely they could have thought of something a bit more interesting to tempt us in there!

The shop is far too small to have a wide range of anything really, prices aren't great (stupid exchange rate, again!) The tills couldn't take credit cards yesterday, not that I actually saw anyone buying anything! Plenty of people looking around, all with pretty much the same glum expressions!

Shan't be in a hurry to go back there! If you buy online now from the UK they are only charging 5 pounds delivery, much better option & plenty more choice

Another thing; goodness knows how many staff they have taken on, seemed a bit excessive for such a small store..

[Paula]

Sounds exactly as I expected, shan't be hurrying there anytime soon.

[deidrev]

I went to the store today.
It's smaller than the one in Gibraltar and is on one floor only.
They'd need a much bigger store to cover all the things we'd all like to see there.
The food section is tiny and was absolutely packed with both British and Spanish and they were buying!
I suppose that as far as wine is concerned it is rather a case of "coals to Newcastle"and I wouldn't bother with that as we can but acceptable Spanish wines for much less money.

I bought a pack of 5 pairs of midi pants for 14.95 euros. On line these are priced at £12. ( exchange rate 1.25 euros to the £, that's blooming expensive.) We do have to take into account that at the moment VAT is higher here than in the U.K.
I bought a pair of Per Una trousers and checked on line but they aren't available there. I also bought a very nice fleece jacket and again the particular model isn't available on line, so I'm unable to give a comparison.
The staff were almost all bi-lingual and very helpful.
They were still having a problem with their card machine but it was overcome whilst I was there, with a portable unit. This could be put down to teething problems and I'm sure it'll be sorted out.
Having said that, I was disappointed in the lack of choice in the clothing department as was my husband who said that the choice for men was abysmally small!


In my opinion they should stock less of the fancy stuff(cards etc) and concentrate on clothes!

I will be looking more often on line and possible wait until a trip to a large M&S store in the U.K.

[Colinm]

exchange rate 1.25 euros to the £,

It's currently 1.12, allow for transport, the difference in vat rates and it leaves about a 10% mark up for the franchisee.

Until recently they were using an exchange rate of £1 = €1.42 in Ireland, with € price stickers over the £ price. There was uproar, so they cut the £ price of the label



(keep getting my exchange rate formalae wrong way round!!!)

[El Cid]

That's a fair rate - it's about the same as Iceland use.

Sid

[Zofia]

[quoteThey did actually have a fair amount of space dedicated to wine][/quote] Hurrah, I've been told there is French wine too! At LAST!!!! Of course we drink Spanish wine most of the time, but are desperate for some nice Burgundy.......My OH has unfortunately gone off Spanish wine big time too, so he will be happy.

[pigs-might-fly]

Up to date info on M&S, La Cañada,today.
1 "Ultimate" range jacket for a men's suit: 140 Euros
1 "Ultimate" range pair of men's trousers - to match: 79 Euros.
Total for a two piece suit: 219 Euros. at today's rate of exchange around £190.

Prices in UK M&S, checked today, EXACTLY the same suit, by reference number & colour: £149.

That's £40 more - rather a lot don't you think?

[Paula]

I went in there yesterday for the first time. I saw a sweater that I bought in UK at xmas for £30 was Euro 45. Though I do remember going into M&S in Rhodes and the difference in price from the UK was staggeringly high. Not much in the foodhall to choose from! Though they did have M&S chicken kievs (Not the formed chicken rubbish), which I'm happy to buy for a quick sling in the oven meal. They didn't have my M&S walnut whips though
Maybe if I wasn't a regular traveller to UK I would buy the odd thing from there, but the goods aren't worth what they are charging.
Wish they did flowers like M&S UK.

[keddyboy]

My wife went there when it opened and enquired whether or not she could use a gift token issued in english pounds as payment and they informed here that this could be done once the tills were adjusted. Good news I suppose as mothers tend to send silly things like sterling cheques and sterling gift tokens!