Marks & Spencer

"John H. Patterson —National Cash Register Simon Marks —Marks & Spencer Sol Price —FedMart & Price Club Les Schwab —Les Schwab Tire Centers Herb Kelleher —Southwest Airlines Chester Cadieux —QuikTrip F. Kenneth Iverson—Nucor 3G partners —Garantia, Lojas Americanas, and Anheuser-Busch InBev"

"Occasionally, you’ll find a human being who’s so talented that he can do things that ordinary skilled mortals can’t. I would argue that Simon Marks —who was second generation in Marks & Spencer of England—was such a man. —Charlie Munger,"

"Goronwy Rees, St. Michael: A History of Marks & Spencer"

"St. Michael: A History of Marks & Spencer"

"[Peter] Drucker was . . . an admirer of Marks & Spencer, the giant British retail concern which, while copying some of Sears’ methods, notably in recruiting, training, and developing new executives, was imbued with a variety of objectives, perhaps more diverse than Sears’ productivity and marketing, for example. It had also established “innovation objectives” as Drucker put it, by which “it rapidly built its quality control laboratories into research, design and development centers. It developed designs and fashions. Finally it went out and looked for the right manufacturer.” The result was one of the world’s best programs for private labels. —Isidore Barmash, Macy’s for Sale, 1989"

"reviving a run-down department store not only requires skill and dexterity but also luck in a multiplied form. Anyone who dares to take on such a company must know the upcoming trends and the buying behavior of customers. No American department store chain has been able to gain a permanent foothold in Germany. Woolworth had to close its doors, America's leading supermarket giant Walmart has failed in this country, and the English fashion chain Marks & Spencer was also unable to prevail. In contrast, there is again the global success of brands like Foster Grant, Schweppes, or Burger King. Buying these is part of the success strategy of the Berggruen-Franklin duo."