M&S defends ‘short and sharp’ sale
Move to clear winter stock puts clothing sales back in spotlight
Marks & Spencer has insisted a mid-season clothing sale is normal practice.
[i]The Daily Telegraph[/i] suggested the timing of the sale, two days after M&S’s year-end, raised new concerns about the strength of the retailer’s clothing sales.
M&S has cut prices by up to 50 per cent in womenswear and other product areas. The company told news agency Reuters the sale is normal trading practice, and had taken place at about the same time for each of the last eight years. A spokeswoman said: “It will basically be to clear winter stock; it’s to clear out stock to make way for new stock.”
[img r]m&ssalecroydon.jpg[/img]M&S told the [i]Telegraph [/i]that the sale will be ‘short and sharp’, but could not say how long it would last.
Other UK clothing retailers have taken a similar approach to winter lines, with Next running a one-day sale at the weekend to clear surplus stock. Bhs is also running a clothing sale currently, as are department stores Allders and Debenhams.
M&S announced earlier this month that Vitorrio Radice, head of home, would be adding clothing to his responsibilities.
The retailer has accepted that clothing has underperformed, and part of Radice’s brief is to ensure that the store environment works with the M&S’s revamped cloting ranges to improve sales.
