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FTHN: From the Hornets Nest

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RETAIL IS DETAIL

Mayfield…hanging his head in shame

The Dame popped into Peter Jones’s Haberdashery Dept the other day and was saddened by what she found. Unlike booming Marks and Spencer it seems the partnership ethos that so invigorated John Lewis has all but gone.

At M&S the staff seem full of beans and enthusiasm led by dyed in the wool retailer, Stuart Machin.

So who is to blame for the precipitous fall of John Lewis and Waitrose?

When headhunters at Egon Zehnder presented their initial list of candidates to run the John Lewis Partnership in early 2019, outgoing chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield told them to try again and be more imaginative. Among the names turned up in their second trawl was Dame Sharon White….a civil servant with no clue about retailing.

So, the culprit is Mayfield, an ex army officer with no retail background.

He did nothing when chairing the company and then exacerbated the problems by appointing Dame Sharon White who knew even less about retail. What sort of fee did Egon Zehnder pick up for this disastrous choice? £500,000!

It just shows what happens when a non retailer tries to do retailing.

Hang your heads in shame White and Mayfield for ruining a once great partnership.

Post Views: 98

7 responses to “RETAIL IS DETAIL”

  1. Market Trader Avatar
    Market Trader

    excellent attack, Dame. The idea of a ‘senior civil servant’ turning around a failing retailer is hilarious. Simon Wolfson at Next must have been astonished

    Reply
    1. Avatar
      Anonymous

      Next took its place on the High Street in the eighties. Back then, their garments were stylish and the quality of their fabrics and knitwear was exceptional. One did not mind paying a little more for their gear because it was value for money.

      Nowadays, the fabric in Next’s garments is not what it used to be. The quality of their fabrics is much the same as it is at any other UK retailer. So much of the clothing in the UK market is manufactured in China or Bangladesh. I recently purchased some pyjamas for my husband from Next. When I unpacked them, there was a strong chemical smell. Nowadays, one does not expect to have wash clothes to get rid of manufacturing odour before wearing them.

      Reply
  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    The John Lewis Partnership has sunk to the depths of the street market and the former high street store, What She Wants.

    Reply
  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Then trouble with John Lewis and Waitrose is that the top brass seldom get shafted. They are “partners” in the business and one does not sack “partners” unless they are shop floor workers whose face does not fit then the so called “Partnership” branch management team is ruthless. Colleagues who have worked with a partner who has fallen out of favour stop talking to them. It is a sham and the people who work in the Partnership are so up themselves.

    Reply
  4. How the mighty have fallen. Avatar
    How the mighty have fallen.

    If memory serves me well, John Lewis did “shaft” their Head of Brand just before or just after Sharon White joined the Partnership. She tried to jazz up John Lewis with mobiles dangling from the ceilings of their fabrics’ section. It was so tacky, so vulgar and so unlike John Lewis, more like the Co-op’s Living Store in Hammersmith King Street.

    Waitrose is unable to sort out the problems in the branch that I use.

    Reply
    1. Avatar
      Anonymous

      The service at the Waitrose where I shop is like the service at Woolworth’s in the 1970’s.

      Come to think of it, Woolworth’s had mobile suspended from the ceilings; “common” and tacky.

      Reply
  5. Avatar
    Anonymous

    The demise of Peter Jones is a loss to all of us who live in Chelsea. Childhood memories of a large haberdashery department on the first floor and endless quality goods at a reasonable price served by well trained staff with impeccable manners. Now we have a shabby and often dirty store, with limited stock and demoralised staff.

    Mary Porter voiced the concerns of many but noone heeded her warnings.

    Reply

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