Marks & Spencer

Great selection, Really Great if your in a rush and need a great choice of food/​etc.

Marks & Spencer has four main stores plus one Outlet in York, and this flagship Parliament Street store is by far the largest.
This store hosts the food, menswear and ladieswear departments.
Diagonally across the road from this store, is Mark and Spencer’s Coppergate store which features the Homeware, Furniture, Childrenswear and Café.
The range of goods is excellent, with a good sized Per Una, Autograph, Limited Collection and Classic range for the ladies, split over the first and second floors.
Staff will happily help find items and order readily for goods to come for you in just a few days.
The store has a very good wine selection.
Opening hours: (not as above)
Mon-​Wed: 9am — 6pm
Thur: 9am — 7pm
Fri-​Sat: 8.30am — 7pm
Sun: 11am — 5pm

Ok first let me say that the selection of clothing etc. here is good and I actually made a purchase last time I visited.
BUT
I will not be going back into this store until something is done about the terrible layout and outright obstruction of the customer circulation area. The place felt massively over stocked with items piled in the isles blocking movement and making the place feel downright dangerous! There was almost a serious accident going up the escalators where people couldn’t clear the top of the escalator in time because they had no where to go and we were coming up with no where to go! Terrible and totally avoidable in my opinion. My wife felt claustrophobic and refused to even look around the rest of the store insisting we leave as soon as possible.
The final straw was trying to get out of the place and between the bottom of the escalators and the exit door, there was effectively a barrier of stacked food and drink blocking direct exit to the street again adding to the feeling of being trapped.
The worst shopping experience I have had in a very long time.

I can only really comment on the food section here, as I popped in to buy some sandwiches. (I know, I know; surely York must have some nice tea-​shops? Well, I couldn’t find any that either had space or didn’t charge the earth).
I suspect it was my fault for choosing a Saturday afternoon, but I find it hard to believe that the citizens of York put up with this all the time: the food section is cramped, badly laid out, with displays of impulse purchase items (eg tins of posh biscuits) stacked up in places perfectly designed to impede customer circulation, and slow, slow tills. It took me 20 minutes to buy my sarnies, and it felt horribly claustrophobic.
The worst M&S I’ve been to in a very long time: the stars are only because the choice and quality of products is good.