Swapping tat for quality in the retail clothing market

A fascinating article in today’s Guardian contains some really useful material for any AS or A2 Business student or for those taking the BTEC First in Retail.

I found this article in today’s Guardian to be a really interesting read.

The article reports that Jane Reynolds has swapped her role as director of merchandising and buying for Tesco’s clothing operation in Europe for a job running the online lingerie retailer Figleaves.com, which has a turnover of only £30m.

In the interests of researching this blog entry, I had to visit the figleaves website of course. Those of you with from a sheltered upbringing may find the content on that retail site a little eye-opneing!.

There are some cracking quotes from Jane Reynolds in the article. In particular, I highlighted the following:

“There is a massive change coming in retail. I am fed up with walking in and out of shops full of tat. I just want better” - does this signal the beginning of the end of for fast-fashion? Which consumers are now looking for the higher quality garments?

“It is,” she says, “just so much better to be working with lovely products rather than just being price-driven.” Jane Reynolds is moving from a mass market retail environment that is almost entirely price-driven (tesco’s strapline is “every little counts” ) to a niche segment where products are likely to be postioned at premium prices. An interesting contrast which will test her retail skills.