Mary Portas, the scary retail woman off the telly, is back with a new series of her self help sessions where she struts about and confidently explains how to improve a failing business. The awfully punning title of Mary Queen of Shops re-spawned on the screens on June 7, 2010. For anyone who hasn’t seen it imagine Kitchen Nightmares but with less swearing and a heightened sense of fashion. This time she leads the fight back against the supermarkets.
It’s one of those programmes where you go in wanting to hate the smug know-it-all presenter/expert who will no doubt bully the poor souls who just wanted a bit of help. But when confronted by ultra defensive baker Angela Maher with her refusal to change and stuck in the 1970s attitude it’s hard to choose which one comes across as the least likeable.
Mary Queen of Shops Baker
Although Angela is proud of her bakery store, every time she encounters someone new who wants to offer a few pointers all she can do is stubbornly pick holes in their ideas in a way that becomes increasingly irritating, especially when talking down to the owners family owned artisan bakers. She also thought Portas was simply on hand to help with the layout and other such visual matters. Sparks do fly.