Along came Mary

You might have noticed that I have a picture of Mary Portas, the retail expert, marketing genius, 'queen of the high street' stuck on my blog for the last few weeks. I have been an ardent fan of her BBC series Mary ‘Queen of Shops’ and was overjoyed to see her back on our screens, if only for 5 short episodes but this latest series has packed more crunch, bite, sensation.. leaving me gutted when the last of the 5th aired this Monday past. bo-hoo-hoo-hoo..

Mary is just up-there with my tele-heroes, Sir David Attenborough the naturalist and Iain Stewart the geologist whom I’ve learnt so much from but she’s a tad more special. She’s also at her best in this series, I think, as she pulls out all the stops and gives honest hard-hitting advice to 5 ailing shopkeepers; a bakery, ,greengrocers, hair saloon, home furnishings shop (you tube picks) and a DIY store-pulling them out of the doldrums and helping them turn their businesses around. Each shop get’s an overhaul, is redesigned with Mary’s top tips and eventually, reaps the rewards of increased profits. I find myself gobbling up her advice, admiring her righteousness and ogling at her ferocious ring-waving-hands but mostly cringing at those nail-biting moments when her shock retail therapy hits her victims on the head; equally, I revel in her warmth, wit and charm. She’s astute, admirable and downright stylish and oh! I will so miss you Mary!