why do shops.....

[Jules001]

get their winter clothes in so damn early? I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to get away on holiday this year, however booked on Sunday and went out yesterday (first opportunity) to get some new holiday stuff. Found almost every shop I went into had got winter woolies in and Primark even had their scarves, gloves and wooly hats and very little in the way of summer stuff still to be had. It is only just into August, I could maybe understand at the end of August beginning of September, but now really!

[liquidspace]

Well we havent even had the summer yet! bonkers

[gingejbee]

....because that's how retail works. Christmas stuff soon.

[dotty.]

the stock has to come in containers from the far east and many other far flung places, it can take 6 - 8 weeks to arrive, the buyers have to be sure the product is unwrapped, labelled and in the stores ready for the autumn and so the potential for this to go wrong if there is a mishap at sea or if there is a customs embargo (like we've had earlier this year in taiwan or somewhere similar) then it can delay delivery and thus cause sheer panic in the high street world. So, once the stock arrives in the UK and is distributed through the various pre-store processes, it has to be sent to stores up to 2 weeks ahead of the new season launch to be sure the planograms they use can be implemented to the rigorous timetable retailers use to max out the profit potential on the various lines. if the stock cannot be put out in stores it will not make it's predicted profit per unit over the number of weeks it needs to bring that overall profit per unit in. also, the volume of product needed each season costs money to be stored anywhere else, the shop floor is the right place for it to be as soon as possible.

[gingejbee]

...that's my answer - but I condensed it, somewhat!

[dotty.]

it gets asked every year on here ginge . i might copy and paste that one for next year, by august there will only be size 8 and size 26 swimsuits in stores, how are they supposed to bring in any profit? and the department would look kinda stupid virtually empty!

[Jules001]

lol @ gingerbee, very comprehensive answer Dotty thanks, I know that stock has to be planned and ordered in advance, but have they really got so little control over what to put out when, I mean it is hardly likely that Primark for example will be selling any of their hats, gloves and scarves at the moment, especially as we have a mini heatwave predicted for the weekend. Also I may be wrong, but I don't remember that in the past, shops changed their seasons so early

[cathfromsaron]

i agree, we just went to get sunglasses (broke mine and lost the boy's) and there were hardy any there for me to choose from, and none for boys whatsoever!

cath x

[dotty.]

it's absolutely normal, from working in the house of fraser in the 1970s to working in debenhams in recent years, the season change has hardly changed except that there was more of an autumn clothing season rather than straight into the lines they will be selling most of the winter. that is because the deliveries back in the 1970s were brought in my road from UK manufacturers.

[dotty.]

*by road