At least Next are busy

Geenie

Look out for all the Next sale stuff on EBay soon.

Sapphire

fc123 wrote: »

Not neccessarily unethical...just cheaper. People get more het up about Indian call centres taking employment from UK than clothes making jobs. Factory work is far from glamourous or fun....sitting in a call centre with a headset on may be easier....I don't know as I have only ever joined in on a clothing production line......to get my own range out on schedule.

I add value to the time I spend sitting behind a sewing machine by designing from scatch the items I am sampling.

I cannot believe that companies like Jaegar are having clothing made in China. Jaegar used to be the 'typical' British company producing classic clothing for women, and it was always made in Britain. Seeing their clothing being labelled with 'Made in China' has put me right off the brand.

Perhaps with the 'credit crunch' we will go back to producing more at home, instead of importing stuff from faraway places (seems crazy to me).

I did actually buy two lovely cashmere scarves today, which were made in Scotland! I was told the company is doing well, which was really good news. :T

mippy

poppysarah wrote: »

I think nulabour changed the law so a price didn't have to have been for 28 days. It's allowing all sorts of shenanigans now

This isn't the case - I work in media regulation and clear adverts for a big high street retailer (can;t tell you who!). Before they go on air we need written confirmation that it is a 'genuine sale' ie. that items have been on sale at the previous price for at least 28 days. However a lot of retailers don't advertise their sales on TV...

beaujolais-nouveau

fc123 wrote: »

OK here goes...The tradition in clothing up until 10 years back was a mark up of X 2.5 from cost. Independent retailers work on X 2.7 usually.

That's interesting - I had thought that it was still about 2.x markup - if thousands of people were not losing their jobs every day now, I would feel less sorry for the retailers who are going out of business.

fc123

beaujolais-nouveau wrote: »

That's interesting - I had thought that it was still about 2.x markup - if thousands of people were not losing their jobs every day now, I would feel less sorry for the retailers who are going out of business.

Don't feel sorry for any of them (including me )...all that has happened over the past decade is the Fred Harrison effect....the land prices (that is the shop rents /costs) just absorbed all the extra margin......hence less indies.
The sums don't add up in certain towns/cities anymore.
Some market towns have local landlords who don't match rents with every Costa coffee / Starbucks opening. They do that as they have a connection with the area. Coffee shops have been competing over sites for last few years......it then pushes up rents as their rental becomes the new value for the immediate area.

It bu55ers up retailers like me...we are busy, popular...but our overheads have more than doubled in past 11 years....and my selling prices have stayed the same (reduced in real terms).

I don't sell coffee on stonking big margin served by min wage satff. The manager of our local Costa is on £6.50 phr and has to clean down at end of day....unpaid....it takes him 2 hours sometimes. If he has a wife and kids to support, the tax credit system can subsidise his wages....no incentive for Costa to pay him more. Not a good system but I can't think of a better one either.

You can join my power of one campaign against buying coffee from oligopoly coffe shops if you like? It's quite a lonely campaign sometimes...

beaujolais-nouveau

fc123 wrote: »

It bu55ers up retailers like me...we are busy, popular...but our overheads have more than doubled in past 11 years....and my selling prices have stayed the same (reduced in real terms)..

Do you sell on the web? I ask only because I am wondering about whether I should do this - sewing children's clothes and women's silk lingerie, to sell (at the moment I make my living as a web developer and with some secretarial agency work) - I would not be in the same "niche" as you, I am guessing, but I definitely could not survive if I had to sell for £3 something that had taken me all day to make. (I am nowhere near being a couturier but I have been sewing all my life, since age 6.)

olly300

beaujolais-nouveau wrote: »

That's interesting - I had thought that it was still about 2.x markup - if thousands of people were not losing their jobs every day now, I would feel less sorry for the retailers who are going out of business.

Definitely not.

I know from the business I was in a few years ago involving import and export that a lot more was spent on shipping the items over, getting the items through customs etc than actually buying them from China and India.

Also some of my family and friends are/have owed businesses in import, export and retail trading and they are loaded.

bo_drinker

We have one costa coffee and another opening in essentially a Market town near Woolworths which is a sh1tty end of a tarted precinct. Also there are others Starbucks and another I don't remember the name, never been in any nor never likely too. Will these survive ?

olly300

bo_drinker wrote: »

We have one costa coffee and another opening in essentially a Market town near Woolworths which is a sh1tty end of a tarted precinct. Also there are others Starbucks and another I don't remember the name, never been in any nor never likely too. Will these survive ?

Are there lots of offices near by? Or a largish train station? Or a bus station?

fc123

mippy wrote: »

This isn't the case - I work in media regulation and clear adverts for a big high street retailer (can;t tell you who!). Before they go on air we need written confirmation that it is a 'genuine sale' ie. that items have been on sale at the previous price for at least 28 days. However a lot of retailers don't advertise their sales on TV...

In clothing (fashion.....which is fickle) all markdowns are costed into the first selling price....it's a good day when a style flies off the racks @ full price...full margin for retailer.

You then get the odds and ends sold off @ 50% off....still not a bad margin as probably 60% of the style still sold @ full price.

Then you get The Dogs (as they are known) the dodgy styles/fits/colours etc..in yeass gone by, these were the items that got cleared...plus the over orders...buyer was fixated with certain look (say tartan) and overordered.
With modern EPOS till systems, just in time production, these fashion errors are now quite rare.......but the customer 'expects' sales.
So loads of decent stuff is marked up to the max to allow for markdowns.
One of the reasons Primark does so well.

The problem has been that the Bean Counters have become more pivotal in the whole retail process now.

I control my stocks, put a lot of thought into what I buy in or make and face my dogs as and when they crop up (unavoidable in fashion).

Bean counters don't truly understand the damage that their fancy accounting has done to the whole fashion industry. There are shops that I would never, ever pay full price in...but there are others I would.
That's only because I am confident in that sector. Many customers are challenging the whole ''It was £180 last week, now it's £40'' as it feels ,like the brand/fascia is taking them for a bit of a mug.

Electronics etc, I am at the mercy of the 18 yr old behind the counter. I would never buy any electronic item at a discount as I have zero knowledge....so assume it's out of date or not as good as a full price item.


American Apparel doesn't do sales and we haven't done one this January (for the 1st time). Customers are tramping around hunting 'bargains' and the chains have plenty of 'bargains' laid out for them to choose from....but the damage to many brands long term will be interesting. I have already heard from regulars to the chains that neighbour me that they have lost confidence at buying goods @ full price now.

Mind you, the returns policies that they have work in the customers favour....many trot back to the store, get refund and re-purchase same item @ 50% off. The bean counters really need to work their shop floors...or there will be no full price selling season at all....just constant sales....that aren't really sales at all; like The Officers Club.