Early bird M&S gets into swing of spring

IT MAY be the first day back at work for many people, but high street giant Marks & Spencer was in an upbeat mood as it launched its latest spring collection today.

It wasn't the best day to launch a new spring collection. A dark, miserable and rainy morning, and no doubt a late one given the train strikes and the capital's traffic at a virtual standstill with many parents back on the school run.

Not a great morning but, unperturbed, Marks & Spencer has gone ahead with the largest turnaround in stock in the company's history.

The biggest promotion of its kind for the company saw almost the whole of the 25,000 square foot expanse of the ground floor of Marks & Spencer's Kensington High Street store, as well as a major part of the first floor, given over to the new spring looks.

The same merchandise makeover has happened to Marks & Spencer stores nationwide today, beating other high street stores such as Next and Gap in the race to introduce new stock first.

So what can you expect if you pop in to M& S today? The new collection heavily features the Riviera look that's red, white and navy stripes that look perfect for holidaying in the South of France to you and me - as well as Safari - long, beige canvas skirts and rib knits - soft tailoring, a Classic range for the more mature customer, pastel knitwear, jeans and, yes, even bikinis.

Despite rumour to the contrary, Marks and Spencer hasn't quite gone mad.

Most of the new spring range looked cosy enough to wear right now - the jeans section had a lot of interest from early shoppers - and if you are lucky enough to be heading off on a winter sunshine break, you won't be disappointed either.

Kensington High Street's shoppers seemed to like the fact that, at least in the store, spring had come early.

"I've bought two tops already," said Anna Polus as she rummaged through the red, navy and white striped separates.

"I really like the collection.

And no, I don't think it's too early to see spring clothes," she added.

Fellow shopper Liz Cave agreed.

"It's gorgeous," she said of the new range. "Such lovely colours too. I'm from New Zealand, so it's a perfect time to launch spring clothes for me," she joked.

It is not only the merchandise that has been changed - the shop layout is more spacious and items are grouped together in colours and even more radically, each item will now be priced individually and not bannerpriced as in the past.

It is still too early to tell if Marks & Spencer's forward thinking gamble will pay off.

But on the reaction of early bird shoppers, at least, the retail giant looks as if it might have a winner on its hands.

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