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From Across the Pond: "Mary Queen of Shops"

Just a few quick words about tonight's premiere of reality series Mary Queen of Shops on BBC America. The series, which features fashion expert Mary Portas as she attempts to pull back boutiques from the brink of insolvency, follows a rather similar formula to the network's own Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and Hotel Inspector , in which Gordon Ramsay and Ruth Watson respectively attempt to save failing restaurants and hotels, and Bravo's Tabatha's Salon Takeover , in which the snippy hairstylist saves sinking salons. Here, Mary Portas once again provides tough love to some rather misguided entrepreneurs who have opened up clothing boutiques without really having an understanding of fashion, visual merchandising, or how to turn a profit (or sometimes, all three) and who typically seem to lack business acumen in general. Like Ramsay and Watson before her, Portas is outspoken, brusque, and generally given to tell things like they are. She doesn't seem to befriend ...