"Shopping"
I would like to tell you about shopping in the United Kingdom. Marks &
Spencer is Britain's favorite store. Tourists love it too. It attracts a
great variety of customers from house wives to millionaires. Princess
Diana, Dustin Hoffman and the British Prime-minister are just a few of its
famous customers. Last year it made a profit of 529 million pounds. Which
is more than 10 million a week. It all started 105 years ago when a young
Polish immigrant Michael Marks had a stall in Leeds market. He didn't have
many things to sell: some cotton, a little wool, lots of buttons and a few
shoelaces. Above his stall he put the now famous notice: "Don't ask how
much - it's a penny." Ten years later he met Tom Spencer and together they
started Penny stalls in many towns in the North of England. Today there are
564 branches of Marks & Spencer all over the world: in America, Canada,
Spain, France, Belgium and Hungary. The store bases its business on 3
principals: good value, good quality and good service. Also, it changes
with the times; once it was all jumpers and knickers. Now it is food,
furniture and flowers as well. Top fashion designers advice on styles of
clothes. Perhaps, the most important key to its success is its happy well-
trained staff. Conditions of work are excellent. There are company doctors,
dentists, hairdressers, etc. And all the staff can have lunch for under 40
pence. Surpassingly tastes in food and clothes are international. What
sells well in Paris, sells just as well in Newcastle and Moscow. Their best
selling clothes are: for women - jumpers and knickers (M & S is famous for
its knickers); for men - shirts, socks, pajamas, dressing gowns and suits;
for children - underwear and socks. Best sellers in food include: fresh
chickens, vegetables and sandwiches, "Chicken Kiev" is internationally the
most popular convince food. Shopping in Britain is also famous for its
Freshfood. Freshfood is a chain of food stores and very successful
supermarkets which has grown tremendously in the twenty years since it was
founded, and now it has branches in the High Streets of all the towns of
any size in Britain. In the beginning the stores sold only foodstuffs, but
in recent years they have diversified enormously and now sell clothes,
books, records, electrical and domestic equipment. The success of the chain
has been due to an enterprising management and to attractive layout and
display in the stores. It has been discovered that impulse buying accounts
for almost 35 per cent of the total turn over of the stores. The stores are
organized completely for self-service and customers are encouraged to
wander around the spaciously laid out stands. Special free gifts and
reduced prices are used to tempt customers into the stores and they can't
stand the temptation.