'Queen of Shops' slams House of Fraser for Jenners identity crisis

Published on Monday 10 August 2009 09:59

SHE is known as the Queen of Shops, famed for taking struggling stores and turning them into overnight success stories.

Now she has hit out at one of Edinburgh's best known and well loved department stores, Jenners, saying it was being ruined by owner House of Fraser.

After a recent visit to the Capital, outspoken television retail guru Mary "Queen of Shops" Portas also took aim at Princes Street, saying the tram works were a huge distraction for shoppers.

Her main complaint was with Jenners, a store once known as the Harrods of the north, with a 170-year history for quality and service. She accused the Princes Street landmark of having an identity crisis and failing to capitalise on its unique location and stunning interior.

And she hammered House of Fraser – the shop giant which took it over four years ago – for not appreciating the store's unique heritage and independence.

"Jenners internal design is absolutely stunning," she said. "But it feels like House of Fraser got a hold of it and it's just ended up with a slightly hybrid shop instead of one that is still 'Jenners'. Now it doesn't know what it is – Arthur or Martha.

"I want them to think hard about really keeping that wonderful heritage."

House of Fraser paid 46.1 million for the family-owned department store in 2005 and promised to keep it as it was. However, Portas believes its has struggled to maintain its individuality and fulfil the store's potential.

She delivered her verdict after popping into Jenners during a recent family trip to Edinburgh. Portas, 48, recalled: "I'd said to my kids, 'come on, let's see this shop, it's wonderful'. Instead we got in and I felt that it could be any shop, nothing very special."

But she also admitted Jenners was being hampered by the on-going tram works on Princes Street. "It's a beautiful shop and Edinburgh is a beautiful city – although there is an awful lot of building work on Princes Street and you do have to negotiate your way around all that to even get to the shops," she said.

"But Jenners could be much better."

Portas has a formidable reputation as one of the UK's foremost authorities on retail and brand communication. She is credited with turning around the fortunes of Harvey Nichols.

Her comments come amid concern over falling shopper numbers – last week it emerged the number of Princes Street shoppers has plunged by nearly 60,000 a week.

A spokeswoman for Jenners said: "Jenners' heritage is incredibly important to us and we've worked to retain and reference this throughout the store. We believe strongly in the Jenners brand and invested 3.5m in October 2008."