Oui! Marks & Spencer confident that French shoppers love venerable brand

THE French may scoff at British cooking and fashion, but retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) thinks France is yearning for its ready-made chicken tikka masala, gourmet chutney and sensible knickers.

The veteran British store opened a flagship store on Paris’s Champs-Elysees yesterday after a decade’s absence from French soil, bringing the taste and feel of Britain to a city that sees itself as a world capital of food and good living.

“It’s very satisfying to see a store that has been mobbed since we opened this morning. Customers are extremely happy to have us back,” John Dixon, M&S’s executive director, food, said.

Chief executive Marc Bolland said there was a near 1,000 strong queue after the store opened at 11:30am, which briefly attracted the attention of the French riot police.

“I personally went to visit the whole queue and handed over chocolate biscuits and Percy Pigs,” he said.

“What people want is choice, something very strong on price and very strong on quality.

“We offer real value for money so really have the sweet spot here in France,” Mr Bolland said, noting that France is the seventh-biggest clothing market in the world.

Britain’s biggest clothing retailer, which also sells home goods and upmarket food, sparked howls of protest in 2001 when it shut up shop in France to stem losses in mainland western Europe and focus on its home turf.

The return to France is part of a new international strategy aimed at a handful of countries, rather than the scattergun approach of the past.