Illustration Project SPOTS & DOTS

shop report MARY at House of Fraser

The Mary & House of Fraser is a shop in shop on the third floor of House of Fraser created by TV retail expert Mary Portas. Mary Portas is famous for her TV show ‘Mary Queen of Shops’ in which she helps Britain’s small shopkeepers by sharing her tricks of the trade with failing boutiques. She has been in the fashion retail business for over three decades starting her career with a Saturday job in John Lewis. This year she was appointed an adviser to the Prime Minister David Cameron to revive the British high street.

Mary decided to open the shop as she felt that women over 40 are badly served on the high street. It will provide fashion grown up clothes for women who do not want to shop at Topshop or Marks and Spencers.

As I enter the shop the first thing I see are the bright orange-wigged mannequins with her trademark hair and the neon Mary sign. Another sign says ‘For Women, Not Girls’ this shows the concept of the shop. The visual merchandising is amazing. The space has a light airy feel with the main collection in the front of the shop, homeware to the side and accessories at the back. The jewellery is displayed in plain wood glass topped boxes. This made it simplistic yet effective. The clothes are displayed on simple mannequins wearing orange bobs. This really had impact. The orange theme continued at the shoe wall at the back of the shop, where orange shoe boxes were stacked on shelves like an installation.
The place was buzzing, lots of people going through the rails and trying on the clothes. This kind of shopping environment for me felt new and exciting. It was a new experience in shopping. Even the shop assistants were dressed as bellboys. The staff seemed very enthusiastic and helpful.

Approximately half of the clothes in the store was designed by Portas helself, and her own collection was mixed with other brands such as Whistles, Day Birger et Mikkelsen and MaxMara which complemented her pieces. The clothes were fashionable yet simple. Good basics with a fresh take such as the shirt that came in bright colours and a trouser with blue satin snake skin print were available. Simple silk shapes in bold prints and block colour dresses were the highlights as they reflected her Marys vibrant style and also looked modern and edgy. The quality was great and the price range was premium high street, with dresses starting from £100, jersey tops and t-shirts from £40. The other brand pieces were much more expensive starting from £200 therefore making her collection more affordable. For me the collection focused on investment pieces that could be worn again without going out of fashion and also mixing in other brands with hers is a very clever idea. Mary had also collaborated with Clarks and Radley for her shoes and hand bags. There collection also includes homewares and foods. I think when designing the clothes Mary really understood her target market the dress styles seemed to be either body hugging or over sized which can look good on all body shapes. Her target market is the forty plus woman that knows what she wants and what looks good on her. At the moment there are not many high street shops that provide fashionable clothing for the over 40s, there are shops such as Wallis, Marks and Spencers and Next but Marys shop is unique because it provides better quality, fashion forward clothing and also has a exciting environment to shop in. I feel that her shop fills a gap in the market.