Matalan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2007)

Matalan plc

Type	Public limited company
Founded	Preston (1985)
Headquarters	Skelmersdale
Key people	John Hargreaves, Founder & Chairman
Products	Clothing, housewares
Revenue	▲ £1,049 million GBP (2004)
Website	www.matalan.co.uk

Matalan is a clothing and homeware store in the United Kingdom. It was founded by John Hargreaves in 1985. It currently has 200 stores across the UK. The 200th store opened on 22nd September 2006 in Croydon. In 2002, the company took over the long established Wolsey Company, which has been trading since 1755.

The current Chief Executive at Matalan is Alastair McGeorge.

1 Stores
2 Matalan Card
3 M Cafe
4 Et Vous
5 Controversy
6 Notes
7 External links

[edit] Stores

A Matalan store at Kingston Park

Matalan stores average out at a size of roughly 30,000 square feet, emphasising the space strategy that the company employs. The majority of Matalan stores are based in out of town locations, based upon a concept that John Hargreaves discovered was successful in America, and then decided to launch it in Preston in 1985. However, recently Matalan has been pioneering the idea of their stores being on the high street in Londonderry and Glasgow. Each store is typically divided into four departments, Ladies, Men's, Kids and Homeware. In May 2007, Matalan launched a new 'Partyshop' department at its Preston store named 'M Party'. This has now extended to almost ten stores across the country including three in west Scotland. During 2008, M Party will be rolled out to a further 55 stores within the company.

In early 2007, small electrical departments were launched in 80 stores following a successful trial, selling televisions, stereo systems, and kitchen appliances, amongst other electricals^{[citation needed]}. In December 2007, the company made the decision to roll out a new store format, following a successful trial and an increase in pre-tax profits.

[edit] Matalan Card

Matalan has a card system that it employes within its Stores. The card was originally used so that only certain people could shop at the store, similar to the Makro membership card. However as the years went on they changed the system so that anyone could join and get a Matalan card for £1. The membership card was needed to process items through the tills, there was no way of buying items without a card. Then in around 2003 Matalan removed the £1 charge for the card. The card is now no longer needed to process transactions, however employees are encouraged to make as few sales as possible without the card. . The card acts as an incentive to customers offering them the following, plus many more exclusive deals:

- Cardholder discounts and exclusive offers
- Vouchers via e-mail, including one on the cardholder's birthday
- A number of partner offers
- Mailer updates on new products and offers

Link to cardholder website --> [[1]]

In 2006, Matalan trialed a reward scheme using points on the Matalan card in Scottish stores. At the same time, a keyfob was introduced as an alternative to the card. However Matalan decided not to roll out this scheme to the rest of the stores, and concentrate on offering more to the customer instore.

[edit] M Cafe

During 2007, Matalan began to trial an in-store cafe concept to attract more customers into stores. M Cafe's menu was based around healthy options, selling food and drinks with little or no sugar. The cafe itself was based around the shape of a coffee bean, with dark brown and stainless steel fittings creating a contemporary setting. However, the cafe's failed to fulfill their intended purpose and were disbanded. The space at the trial stores, Stockport and Southport, have now been turned into hearing aid centres where customers can also get free hearing tests.

[edit] Et Vous

In 2007, Matalan launched a limited product range of designer fashions called Et Vous for Ladieswear. The idea of the Et Vous range is to offer customers something that would be unique and not worn by a large number of people, enabled by the limited amounts of stock on each product line. Et Vous consists of coats, blouses, tops, skirts, and underwear. This range was disbanded in December 2007 and will be re-launched again in spring summer 2008 (it was a dismal failure).

[edit] Controversy

In November 2005, Matalan imposed a unilateral two percent cut on payments to its suppliers. It is one of a series of retailers to do so^{[citation needed]}. Suppliers have threatened legal action.^[1] Matalan has also been applauded for exploiting workers in the pursuit of cheap prices.^[2]