The Next Sale. 6am.

[Pottedpalm]

I can’t believe they persist with this bollocks. Do people still queue before dawn for their poor quality goods?

The very first time my sister introduced me to the next sale it started at 9am and there was us and 5 other people in the store! It must’ve been around 1992. The changing rooms were even in use. DSis and I bought so much stuff and I don’t think we needed to take much back as we had time to look at everything.

Two years later it started opening at 7am and the queues were huge. I would carry things while DSis grabbed what she could. That was the last time we went. I refused to ever do the 5am grab that followed years after that.

I remember my neighbour going at 4am one year to get to the front of the queue - she came back having spent about £200 on non-sale full price stuff! Madness.

I got a text from them a couple of days ago giving me a “slot” for the online sale (which I never asked for). Nah, you’re alright.

Here's the crap we can't sell. Want it?
Nah, I'm good.

Ugh. Like a pp I worked Christmas Eve and Boxing Day at Next as a teenager - one year and one year only. It was such a gross display of selfishness (customers) that I left in January and found myself a new job so I wasn’t in that position again!
The quality went really downhill between having my dds and then my ds that we stopped shopping there entirely. Not expensive clothes but the seams were wonky, buttons would fall off after one wear, stitching coming apart, hems curling, everything just appeared very tatty very quickly.

When I was buying my first house about 20 years ago I did the 6am thing and got absolutely loads of house basics (plates, cutlery, duvet, pillows, curtains etc) for 50% off. Saved me an absolute fortune

Have never done the 6am start again but have done the sale both in store and online. Last year they cancelled most of my order which was ridiculous so I don’t feel like bothering again

My daughter was working in TK Maxx today but she started at the more civilised time of 9 am
A few places were shut tho, Poundland, Home Bargains, Next, Chuckling Cheese, WH SMith, M and S and randomly, the Adventrue golf place in the Metrocentre.
Just about everywhere shut at 7 pm including Burger king.
Not sure I'd ever be anywhere at 6 am for a sale!

Who shops at next still. Only been in for 20 years now. Quality is really poor when I last went on, on 20 years ago. Even then never understood why anyone queued to go shopping.

The quality is poor because it's cheap, what do people expect

There's a lot of shipped in shit that's not the normal stock that you'd have seen in-store before/during Christmas.

When we say queue… are we saying in person? That sounds bonkers.

And buggery bollocks to queuing for anything at that ungodly hour.
I feel for the staff having to get in on boxing day at that time or before.
Limited public transport,fare and a half taxi's.

Curious. What responses are you hoping to achieve from you post? It appears that you want to mock a whole pile of people whose only sin is to shop somewhere you feel is below you, and want a bargain. Are you expecting people to join you in your mocking? Why?

Or do you have some helpful and supportive reason for posting that I have missed.

I used to work there too and it was horrendous - felt like there was no time to relax on Christmas Day as you were anxious about the following day.

Why work there if you didn't like it or couldn't you get another job

I went early once and the entire boys section had already gone. I think resellers go in and grab the entire rail. I normally pop in later on in the day but its honestly a lot of very random stuff.

A few years ago I had to go to a M&S at 9am at opening time on a Saturday, I needed something specific and was under time pressure that morning. A group of 4 or 5 women were also waiting outside the door, the only other people there. When the security guy opened they started running and shrieking, they nudged each other on the escalator up to the women's section shouted and ran all the way. I hadnt noticed any sale signs around. When I got upstairs I saw there was 1 circular sale rack, literally. Still shouting, grabbing, screeching while staff looked on. I was gobsmacked but I reckon they are the Next 6am sale types. It's a hobby that's all, a rather pathetic one IMO.

Yes people still queue outside that early in the morning although not as many as there used to be.

Probably for young children's clothes, I think people buy the next size up, most that queue will be getting these as they probably won't have an account to get a vip slot as they just want some cheaper clothes for their children.

Yes, childrenswear is always the first department to be busy with customers and then the home department in my experience.

Remember when the Next sale queues made the national news for a few years.

Very true, although I doubt there'll be much left by then.
I had a vip slot on Sunday and most of the good stuff was gone by the evening. 10 years or so ago it would have been equal for everyone but nowadays they are pretty much ensuring that the vips/account holders get first dibs.

I remember it well, always on the news. We used to have around 400 people waiting outside our store, but now we will probably have less than 50 tomorrow.

I used to go to the Next sale years ago, when post Christmas sales were proper sales, when I worked in corporate advisory, and needed to wear suits.

This must have been pre-2010, and I used to get some right bargains around 7am (I never queued, or went to the sale right from the start), which saved me sooooo much money.

I would never go now as not only do I not need to, I've heard it's full of absolute rubbish these days.

There's always one

I queued in 2015 and 2018. After that I cottoned on to getting a vip slot which suits me much better. The quality of the clothes were much better then and lots of the babygros were worn by all 3 of my kids and didn't bobble or shrink. Dd2 has also worn lots of her brother and sisters clothes. Clothes that I had purchased at the same time from ASDA or H&M did not stand the test of time. I don't tend to buy dd2 new clothes from there as I find the next own quality isn't as good now. I do still get particular brands of coats from there.

I find you need to get an early vip slot if you want particular things. Sets of kids pyjamas always sell out quickly.