To think queues outside uniforms shops aren't needed?

[Elouera]

Not just this year, but every single year, there is a massive queue outside a uniform shop near me. Help me understand why? I've seen uniforms in supermarkets and department stores, so why the uniform shop?

• Are they the only place that sell branded/logo school clothes?
• Why queue the week before school starts and not a few weeks beforehand?
• Does the shop only get stock a week before school starts again?

YABU- queues are needed due to.....
YANBU- queues aren't needed at all due to .....

They might also be returning uniform because they bought it too early.

My high school had two approved shops you could buy from. If you wore so much as the wrong size pleats on your grey skirt you would be sent straight home with an order that your parents buy the correct one from X shop or X shop.

And buying uniforms very early doesn't work for a couple of reasons. One being that many will have to wait for their uniform grant to come through and another is that of course, kids grow so it's best to get the better fitting size closer to the school opening.

My daughters school has jumpers and PE kit that can only be found in the one shop. However it is in a department Store and never too busy. I always mean to get uniform sooner but end up in the last week of the holidays doing it...

A shop local to me was in the news for having queues of 3 hours or so. Apparently they could only have 10 people at once in the shop not 40

Logo only uniform shops have a monopoly over certain schools and so can offer terrible service in terms of things being out of stock the first 5 times you go and not fulfilling online orders.

I ordered my sons uniform on 24th July and some of it still hasn’t arrived so I had to queue outside the only shop that sells the stuff a couple of days ago.

Luckily my daughter doesn't need to go there. Hers was ordered online and came in under a week.

We will be in that queue on Tuesday because my dd informed me this evening that her skirts are “probably” too short even though she tried them on 2 weeks ago and said they were fine!

Considering the current situation, what parents and pupils have had to endure over the past few months, as well as the uncertainty moving forward, you'd think some of these schools would relax their uniform policy a bit wouldn't you?

Secondary school here. I can either buy online or go to one shop, tiny with two changing rooms. Clothes are not in usual sizes so they need to be tried on.

In normal years they have temps who can't take any time off during summer. They stock items for all secondaries in the borough, I think there may be a second shop in another part just doing local schools. So 240 children x 15 schools and that is just for one year group.

This year they operate on an appointment service only and ask that only Y7/other new starter can come in person, if you need to re-stock clothes you should know what to order. But that meant me paying £4 on top of the jumper DD needed.

I worked in a uniform shop as a teen. This last week was horrendous even 16 years ago. People used to actually scream in my face becasue we had sold out of their childs size - 2 days before the child was due back . Always offered to order it in but not good enough, it was a living nightmare at an unconfident 15 year old lol.

I’m worried I bought DDs blazer too early to be honest. And I left buying PE kit too late (only available in one shop) and it’s not in yet!

Actually looking at skirt I brought and worried it's not close enough to the uniform skirt. Not much I can do as she's going back in a week. Off topic but IMO it's very adult schools to insist your children have specific uniform especially now when loads of parents will be struggling. Any white shirt and black skirt should be acceptable. We'll just have see,what happens.

I’ve only queued once and that was because due to COVID they could only let two people in at once.

Otherwise, I haven’t experienced what you have. I get waiting till the last minute though - sometimes finances just dictate that.

I can only get my DC uniform from 1 shop, moving from primary to secondary, so I do not know dc size for blazer, although, I got dc uniform the day they broke up from primary school, so didn't have to queue.

I’ve never seen a queue in front of a uniform shop (ours you have to go poking around the factory to find someone to even open the till). But if it’s anything like ours I imagine it could be a combination of no other options (branded uniform, which is required, only sold from that one shop) and cost of shipping. I’ve finally coughed up and paid for shipping and just ordered online this year as I couldn’t be asked. But it’s £8.50 for shipping for anything over £20 value (which is 2 polo shirts). Extortionate, frankly. If money was tight and I wasn’t so lazy, I would be queuing up too.