THE GREAT GRANNY PANTS REBELLION
Angry customers force M&S to bring back old design
LOVED by women of all ages, they take pride of place in underwear drawers up and down the country.
So when Marks & Spencer decided to change the design of its ‘granny pants’, many loyal customers got their knickers in a twist.
The high street store made a few minor alterations to its best-selling ladies cotton briefs, making them smaller and moving the seams from the front to the side.
Previously the pants had two flat seams running diagonally from the waistband to the leg. The new side seams are raised.
But the tiny tweaks caused a furore among shoppers, many of whom have bought the knickers for years.
After months of shoppers’ complaints going unheeded on the M&S website, one customer decided enough was enough. Dinah Barry, 67, appeared on BBC Radio 4 to plead for the return of the old pants that everyone loved best. And her plea worked.
M&S has now promised to bring back the old design – and is even sending Mrs Barry custom-made pairs until the original knickers are back on the shelves.
M&S holds 27.6 per cent of the UK lingerie market and more than one in four women buy from the store.
Last April it changed the style of its Supima Cotton & Modal No VPL pants which are sold in a pack of five for £12. They were sold with the same packaging and name meaning customers didn’t realise they had changed until they opened the packet.
There was a flurry of angry reviews on the M&S website complaining that the new versions were smaller at the sides and less comfortable.
One said: ‘They were a perfect fit before and so comfortable! Please could M&S go back to the seam at the front!’ Another added: ‘These are awful... seams at the side which make the fit much worse. Bought several packs and I will be returning all unopened packs.’
An M&S spokesman said: ‘Our loyal customers are very important to us. We looked into this and decided to change the knickers back to the original style lines following valuable feedback.’