Marks and Spencer Foodstore

I was so pleased when I heard you were opening a store in Bangor as M & S is my favourite department store. However when I found out it was only a Simply Food and Per Una store I was so disappointed. Living in Porthmadog my nearest store Is Llandudno, a long way to travel.

I find Marks to be a fair bit more expensive than the local alternatives as far as food is concerned. I don’t think the food is of a particularly high quality, certainly not enough to justify the high markup. I also feel that the store in Bangor is pretty small and is lacking in choice.

The size of the store also limits the amount of clothing on offer. Practically no menswear or kidswear. If you’re looking to buy Marks clothing, heads to Llandudno instead.

I also find it hard to justify trying to battle with the city center traffic when it’d be so much easier to pop to tesco. I guess if you live in Bangor and Marks is within walking distance it might be of use, but Aldi next door will probably see more business as people downshift in the recession. There’s no waitrose in the area, so I can’t imagine who might be downshifting to Marks.

One thing I will say for them is that they do offer some decent Christmas presents, and can be incredibly cheap if you take advantage of the 3 for 2 and 20% sales.

You shop in Marks and Spencers you expect expensive food and you get that in the quality of the product. This one is a SimplyFood so loses a point for 1) Doesn’t have a meaningful clothes section 2) no cafe 3) no fresh produce everything seems to be pre-packed, ready made.

It does look smart, has it’s own free parking in the basement and the staff are very helpful, has a small bakery and a quick service at the tills.

I love the shop, the food is fantastic, but the prices are very high..it puts me off, but there are some reasonably priced kids clothing,worth a look.

Marks and Spencer has been a good addition to Bangor. As is normal, local traders were initially vehemently against the idea, fearing that their business would explode into a puff of thin air over night. Somewhat surprisingly (not!) this didn’t happen, and Marks has brought new custom to the area. Of course, it is a little pricey and in my opinion it does not always justify this in terms of quality. However, many people swear by it so who am I to judge? The eco-bags are a great idea; although the inconvenient truth that you may not want to hear is that hardly anyone uses them. Boo!