The "NEXT SALE" obsession

[AngryChair]

So taking DS to the train station at 6.45am this morning and I'm saying to him "they'll be loads of spaces in the shopping centre at this time in the morning" and usually there would be - it would be practically empty (although full to burst by 11am!). Anyway we got there and it was pretty packed. I couldn't understand it as no shops are open at that time anyway! It wasn't until I got IN the shopping centre that I noticed hordes of people loaded up with tons of "NEXT SALE" bags swarming around the Next shop like ants on a jam jar. It was ridiculous. You'd think someone had been stood there offering £20 notes out to anyone who entered the shop.

Some of these people must have been there since 6ish and had little kids with them who'd obviously been dragged out of bed for the privilege.

AIBU in thinking it's all a bit sad? I mean I do like Next but the lengths people go to!!

I think next is ok.

The sale stuff is shit though. It's always stock I've never seen before.

I went to the next sale for a Cardigan and spent a hundred quid! It is quite good round my way- I got jeans for Dp, 2 dresses for me a size up as I'm due to give birth in 2 weeks so I want nice clothes to wear and about 10 outfits 7 tops and jeans etc for dd and the cutest swimming costume! I have nearly enough clothes for her for the year now! She's 2 and I've done this the last 2 sales and it saves me a fortune. She is quite petite so doesn't fit in a lot of the supermarket stuff!
I look in the shop a few days before the sale and pick what I want then just buy in the sale! Simples!

If I wouldn't buy it at full price then I don't want it at half price. I remember the thrill I felt when I tried on a long cardigan in Evans but decided at nearly £50 it was too expensive. I put it back but was gutted as it was the only one in my size. I decided to treat myself and went back the next day. I took it to the till and it came to £15! It had been reduced in time for the sale starting the next day. I love it when that happens!

Haha! i just got my branded goods delivered at half price

adidas and nike sportswear
and a LOVELY freya bikini

awaiting berghaus jacket and crazy dayglo boys pants

ooh and look here i am

It works for Next though, doesn't it?! Hoards and hoards of bloody people racing to pick up grubby crap off their floors and fight with eachother for stuff! I wouldn't go within a mile - sale or no sale, I don't want my kids to ever have t-shirts with 'cheeky little monkey' or 'daddy's little star' et al all over them. Cringe.

And breathe...

Just got my first delivery too Lorne, so much easier doing it online .

Have never dressed my kids in 'cheeky monkey' t-shirts (Next sale plenty of plain/non-logo stuff), i do hate the 'cheeky monkey' t-shirts.

Yes some boys stiff ace, love their denim chambray shorts and got sone nice polos there too

I used yo buy lots of women wear 10 years ago. Now find it too polyestery

I just popped to our new Next and got 2 pairs of shorts for ds2 and a winter dress for dd. I do not mind the clothes from there and as I live in a town where the only shops to get clothes for children is Peacocks (small selection especially for boys) and a Mothercare, choice is limited. I do find there stuff washes alot better than some places and actually is not actually that much more expensive than Tescos ect on t shirts.

Next clothing is all homogenous shite ? you may as well just put your arms through a bin liner as wear one of their tops.

I'm not a fan of Next clothes and don't understand the sale frenzy, but whoever does their marketing deserves a bonus for getting people to queue outside and get there at 6am!

BTW, does anyone remember when Next was at the top end of the high street and the clothes were really good quality? I have a jumper from there that is about 20 yrs old and still looks brand new. But I think it was about £40 - a fortune back then.

I think it says something that they now carry other brands. I think they know their own quality and name has gone down hill and they must need the "brands" to survive.

And thank god you don't all like it, enough stuff had sold out before my slot on thu as it was without more of you wanting it. ( got my first delivery today, there's been a tech hiccup and some prices are showing as full but it'll be corrected by we'd)

It annoys me that any shop should get their workers and the public up at some ridiculously early hour-there is nothing wrong with 9am. It would be nice if the public ignored them until that time.

Am I right in thinking that Next buys in special crappier crap, just to sell it in their sale?

I'm sure I read that somewhere...

I think it does from what I have seen on the on-line sales - I don't recognise any of it, although I wouldn;t know if what they have in-store is different

I tend to wander in after the initial mayhem had finished and see if there is anything of interest. I find their kids clothes very dull especially now as DS is moving up into 4-5 year old stuff.

I was recently looking for some jeans for DS and Next's were about £17 and I couldn't see any difference between them and supermarket stuff that is much cheaper

I think next clothes are actually quite good quality but no sale would get me out of bed at 6am!! I don't see why so many people seem to rave about Boden clothes-I've found they really don't wash well at all.

why do people queue up at 5am when there is a website to shop from in the comfort of your own home?!

Because there's nothing left on the website after the first lot of sales slots.

I am old enough to remember when NEXT sold fashionable quality clothing rather than cheap work suits made from polyester mixed with other man made fibres

Most of the stuff in the NEXT sale isn't even the same stuff that is sold in the shop throughout the year. It is cheap crap and is sold in an outlet store at the original price somewhere remote then shipped into the main stores for the 'sale'.
I used to quite like NEXT clothes but now it is just overpriced poor quality tat.

When son was 6 months (2008), I went to the Christmas one, and spent £100 decking him out for the next year - it was all really good stuff, I was thoroughly impressed - and I didn't have to buy much else for the rest of the year so it was a trip well spent.

Christmas 2009, I tried the same thing and swore I'd never go to the 5am opening again. I found nothing for him at all - it was all the cheap shite that I'd never seen on the shelves at any other point in the year. And I also got the lovely experience of seeing a woman fall down having a fit, with people stepping over her and even snatching up the stuff she'd dropped. Only 2 people (me included!) stopped to help/grab an assistant.

I popped in later this morning as I'm in a new area. Managed to get son 4 t-shirts which I have previously liked - lego Indiana Jones and star wars - but it took some searching and was still 95% tat.

I Hate Hate Hate Next and get panic-y when in any next shop as I direct result of my mother forcing me to fight for pairs of shoes on Boxing day.

Next is ok for young girls stuff (but to be avoided once they are 5+ and in the realms of the "older girl" range) and womens swimwear.

I also order the basics: trunks/knickers and socks/tights from the directory at the begining of each season, although half of it is sold out within days of receiving the new directory so god only knows what gets left for the sale.

Their workwear and furniture are two of the most hideously depressing ranges available anywhere: nylon mix shirts or lime and cerise accents anyone