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When M&S profits fall, I feel guilty. It is my duty to buy lunch there, after all, and pants at the very least. Yesterday's share price plunge must be my fault.
And it's true, I haven't shopped there much lately. In the interim that symbiotic relationship between the British buyer and its mother shop has gone wrong.
You can blame the economy - Sir Stuart Rose did, saying "our customers pockets are being squeezed". That's hardly news, but isn't it his job to pre-empt our changing desires? More than any other store M&S "gets" the middle-class psyche, delivering cashmere cardigans and flavours of hummus that become instant classics.
M&S is still a very good shop - one that ought to ride a recession well. Clothing director Kate Bostock has got the formula right, with simple dresses and beachwear in a mix of wearable brights and bulk-buy neutrals. I'll be stocking up this summer.
The Food Hall, too, leaves little to be desired.There's more organic produce and in-house bakeries mean good fresh bread. Takeaway, always a strength, is healthier, tastier, more varied. People like me pop in for a crayfish and mango salad but traditionalists can still find their prawn mayo sandwich.
So why are poor food sales eating away Sir Stuart's treasured margins? The answer is simple. Walking in, you're hit with a twin message - luxury and convenience. The two things we can do without when the chips are down.
This week I tried to buy dinner. Ready meals seem unnecessary in a credit crunch but they're the bulk of what's on offer. I picked up lamb stuffed with flavoured butter. The price - £23.99 a kilo - made me put it back again, fast. Plain lamb cost £10 a kilo less. Likewise, loose carrots are 79p a kilo while a pack of batoned ones £2.47 a kilo.
I can chop a carrot and jazz up a piece of meat for nothing. Paying several quid for a lump of butter on your steak doesn't add up. And if I'm cooking from scratch, every other supermarket, from Aldi to my local Waitrose, does basic ingredients cheaper. I bought some biscuits and left.
I suspect my decision is typical of supermarket shoppers across the land. There's something primal about how we react to a recession. Property values might be plummeting faster than for 17 years but it's the price of bread that makes us balk. Even company chairmen find themselves scrimping on the small stuff - something Rose should bear in mind as we all develop a preternatural ability to spot a bargain - and a rip-off.
That's the problem with M&S food. It doesn't just say quality, it says expense. From their perfect rows of giant strawberries to the pink prawns in a pint, you know you'll be paying a premium. For a while at least our luxury days are over.
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I have been a regular customer of M&S for many years and buy their food weekly. Suddenly, it became apparent that their prices are rather high, especially of the prepared meals.
Like the article by Ross, the prices are so much more than the raw ingredients. These meals are prepared by machines, and I do not understand how they put such a big mark-up.
I now buy more raw chicken and meat there, and have noticed that my shopping bills have shrunk considerably.
- V Tan, London
