The Collapse Of M&Co Was Inevitable And Our Communities Are The Poorer For It

The loss of the fashion retailer's stores highlights our love of retail

That old chestnut - ‘the death of the high street’ just won’t go away will it? Well, this piece about the sad demise of M&Co in the Scottish Herald caught my eye earlier this week. And it raises some interesting issues around sub-standard retail and its relevance on (some) high streets.

I understand the sentiment and also that it considers M&Co in the context of its Scottish roots and the Island towns it served. But the sad reality is that M&Co hardly represented cutting edge retailing. But there again, did it need to in order to succeed?

The point being, are we witnessing the demise of the high street (spoiler alert: we're not) or merely the ongoing evolution of it where the weak and the mediocre no longer are deserving of a place?

I’ll confess that I have never shopped at M&Co, for me it was neither attractive nor relevant. But there again, I never shopped at Woolworths (pick ‘n mix aside), or Bhs for that matter. But plenty of people did. And when those businesses collapsed, we collectively entered a period of national mourning.

And there’s the thing, retail - and especially retail brands (or should I say stores?), are part of our communities, part of the fabric of our lives, whether we want to admit it or not. Now, of course, the M&Co brand, just like Debenhams, lives on virtually. But it’s not quite the same thing is it?

Many retailers use the power of diffusers, coffee bars or scented candles to help create an atmosphere which encourages a propensity to buy amongst their customers; M&Co on the other hand used the power of pensioners to create that same effect.

Interestingly, in my hometown of East Grinstead in Sussex, there's been a branch of M&Co on the high street for many years and judging by the local outpouring on social media, it's going to be sorely missed. But I've also detected that this has come from a very particular demographic. Hardly All Saints or Superdry shoppers.

Which returns us to M&Co's roots in Scotland and the outlying towns it has served for so long. Regardless of the quality of the retail, how closely aligned should high streets be to the communities that they serve? Because there's no doubt, the shuttering of the M&Co estate will have a significant impact on many.