Marks & Spencer's latest attempt to reverse its flagging fortunes arrives in two of its Irish stores tomorrow. The new Per Una range was devised by George Davies, who started the Next retail chain and created the successful George brand for Asda supermarkets.
It is a major departure for the brand, not just in terms of the style of clothes on offer but also representing a more fundamental change in the way the troubled chain does business.
A third of the ground floor space of both the Grafton and Mary Street stores in Dublin have been given over to the range, which effectively works as a George Davies concession.
He is not only responsible for the design of the clothing, footwear and accessories in the range but he also controls production and supply as well as the merchandising of the brand. The clothes are designed to be fun and fashionable - two words the fashion press tend not to use when describing anything with a St Michael label.
Even the name of the new range is a change for the quintessentially English brand. Per Una (for one woman) comes from Davies's own interest in all things Italian.
A lot is riding on the success of Per Una. Womenswear sales for the brand have been poor, falling by an estimated 11 per cent for the 14 weeks up to July 7th.
"The four Irish stores consistently perform better than the UK stores, by as much as 10 per cent," says Mr Kenneth Daly, marketing manager, M&S Ireland. He attributes this to two main factors. With only four stores, the market is not saturated by the M&S brand and also the chain has only been in Ireland 22 years, so it is relatively young.
The stores here also appeal to younger shoppers. Sixty per cent of customers are in the 25-44 age group - in the UK the age profile is 10 to 15 years older. This would augur well for the success of Per Una, which is pitched at the 25-35 age group and will compete in terms of positioning with fashion-conscious chains such as Mango and Oasis.
"We've never really been able to capture that huge section of young female shoppers who have the disposable income to buy something for going out at the weekend," says Mr Daly. The price points are reasonable with trousers and shirts selling for around £33 and jackets for £85. Per Una will be introduced in its Liffey Valley branch next month and in Cork in early 2002.
Davies's expertise in merchandising is everywhere. Per Una will have its own labels and bags, and clothes will be grouped in size rather than in style so that size 10 shoppers will not have to rummage through size 18 clothes and vice versa. Shoes will be sold in boxes - another departure from typical chain store practice.
M&S's most recent attempt to attract new shoppers was Autograph, the designer shop within a shop where the company recruited high-profile designers to produce capsule ranges. The concept has worked particularly well in Ireland with Autograph sales in Grafton Street second only to M&S's flagship Marble Arch store.
bharrison@irish-times.ie
