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This isn't just a slowdown. This is an M&S-frightening slowdown.

Oh OK, the - "this isn't just" - word plays are a bit tired now. (Though their ubiquity is quite a tribute to the power of M&S's slogan.)

But the point is serious.

Marks & Spencer - which still sells more than one-tenth of all the clothes we buy - has confirmed it's holding a one-day sale tomorrow. With a big 20% discount.

For M&S, this is a shock tactic. It last tried it in 2004, when its business was really struggling.

Back then it said it was cutting prices to clear unwanted stock, after a long period of sluggish sales. It was fixing a home-grown problem.

This time, the problem is up and down the high street. We're jamming our hands back into our pockets at a time when we're usually planning to spend big. Christmas is when many retailers make the profits that keep them going for the rest of the year.

Other shops are certain to follow. Debenhams has already launched a three-day-long "spectacular" sale.

The retailers' thinking is that they can protect their profits better by having a few cut-price days now, rather than a whole month of even bigger discounts in January to shift the stuff they couldn't sell for Christmas.

But it's a risk. It might make shoppers think they can get even biggest discounts before Christmas if they just hold out a bit longer.

Forget turkey; this is a big game of chicken.

We've already seen some high profile retailers go out of business this year. Friends of mine in the trade say they won't be surprised if we see a lot more go to the wall in the New Year, once they've taken the cash from Christmas shoppers and realised it's not enough to keep going. Watch this space.

Meanwhile - and for completely different reasons - we've had some grim news from one of the best known names on the high street today.

Woolworths has confirmed its in talks to sell its stores. It won't say who, but the likely buyer's thought to be a restructuring specialist called .

This doesn't automatically mean the shutters will come down. Hilco oversaw the winding down of the old Littlewoods stores, selling some and closing others. But it also masterminded the transfer of Allders department stores, which kept 30 of them open under new ownership and retained over 3,500 jobs.

But it's the latest chapter in Woollies' long, slow decline.

It's been at the heart of the high street for 99 years. Its pic'n'mix is part of the language. Its Ladybird clothes were part of growing-up. , sitting beside me, won't shut up about sherbet fountains.

For many of you, it is still a much loved name, even if we don't shop there as much as we once did.

One of my followers on says it sold too many things, but didn't do any of them well. It mistook nostalgia for a brand.

What do you remember about it? And what do you think went wrong?

More importantly - if you were in charge for a week, how would you try to fix it? Let me know in the comments.

And don't forget to tune in - we're at 1.30pm today as the Mother of Parliaments does its stuff.