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?

Whenever I hear about the early start next sale I remember the man who was murdered in Salford. He was on his way to to the next sale at 4am :(

Went online, had a look, left.. I guess most people will do the same. They used to be SUCH good sales. Mind, all the same now.. I was only discussing Dunelm's last year's sale with my DD the other day, was looking forwards to this year's. Absolute rubbish. Went on M&S, put a few diffusers in my basket, nipped to the loo, came back & they were all sold out.. managed to get a few cheap bits for stocking fillers for Xmas 2025 from Boots. That's my lot for sales 2024..
Tbh I don't know why the shops still bother.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/how-senseless-murder-student-anuj-22575111

That's brutal!!

I know. I drive past the spot fairly regularly and always turn my radio off in respect.

Yes, similar. I feel very sorry for the staff.

About 7/8 years ago DD had left University and was still to get the "proper" job. Over the Christmas period she applied for retail jobs. Next was a possible but I was hoping she would get somewhere else because I knew what their Christmas hours were and how much this would disrupt out Christmas.

Thankfully she got a seasonal job at Boots. She still had to work Christmas Eve and Boxing Day but the hours were reasonable and it was in a town entre location that was easy to get to. Also they seemed like quite a nice employer. She quite enjoyed her time there.

Why work there if you didn't like it?

Not a lot of choice for a college student who needs to be committed to their course but wants a bit of extra cash.

Happily dd left in the January. The wages were woeful even for a 17 year old in 2011.

Shopping in big heavily promoted sales is the last way to get a bargain

Better ways...
Buy off season - swimwear& holiday gear in november, winter coats in may/june/july, Christmas bits in jan & feb
Buy at quiet times of year - july, when lots of people are off on holiday
Buy older models of tech items just when new versions are announced

Oh do chill!

I can’t believe they persist with this bollocks.

There must be interested customers for them to bother doing it. No one is forcing anyone to go.

For those all saying it's all rubbish.There are some bargains to be had...if you are a VIP member and you get in quick. I've got loads for the kids, the quality may not be as good as it was but it's still better than the supermarkets imo.

I will never understand why they have to open at 6am . The sake items will still be there if they opened at 9 🤷🏽‍♀️

My cousin used to queue round the block for it when her kids were small.

My daughter worked there as a student . 5am start 20 miles away - nightmare. She was able to tell what shite items would end up in the sale as soon as the autumn collection arrived.

They tell you when you work there about working the sale, people are really moaning, saying how horrible it is, surely if it was that horrible you would get something else, especially as the pay will be minimum wage

I shop online for Next but never have i gone in store for 6am.

I had to get petrol yesterday on the way to pick up an elderly relative and while getting it at Tesco noticed about 30 people queuing to get into the main large store at 08.45 ready for them to open at 9. I couldn't believe that people were actually queuing to get into bloody Tesco on Boxing Day.

Is this a thread for sneering at people who shop in Next or something?

I worked there one Christmas and had to start work at 5am on boxing day because of the sale. I haven't shopped in there around Christmas time since. Asking poorly paid, poorly treated retail workers to start at 5am so somebody can get cheaper clothes is a joke.

I worked there when I was 17 as a part time job (20 years ago now).
People are absolutely batshit in my town about the Next sale.
We used to get huge boxes of stock come in specifically for the sale. This was unsold stock that was sometimes years old. Just to put out for the sale and then box back up again a few weeks later in January when the new ranges for spring came out.

They don’t even sell the original stock in the sales, just low grade stuff. It even has SP (special purchase) on the labels. Why do people fall for this?

It was always good for young kids clothes but very dowdy for adults so I don't bother now the kids are older.

Be good to hear from anyone who went this morning!

I think you are thinking about the outlet stores, I have never seen any SP in normal Next stores even when the sale has been on for a couple of days, SP is sold in the outlet/clearance stores, I saw it in the York one.

i really don’t care what people do in their own time. It doesn’t affect me at all.

It's normally opens at 5am Boxing Day.

The staff don't get paid extra, get no help with the cost of taxis - most workers don't have a car or there's nowhere to park cars, bar management.

Anyone queues up for many hours outside any shop for sales, game console etc are completely sad and need to get a life.

I remember seeing long queues outside bookshops when the last Harry Potter book came out. Walked past Waterstones at 11am, no queue, loads of the HP book left.

I worked at the Next Directory call centre at Christmas in 2001 and 2002. I worked this day those years ago. Customers rang to place orders for children's clothes. Wanted aged 2-3. Out of stock. Ok, see if they have any 3-4, nope. Ok 4-5? Yes.

I do wonder some parents buy clothes which will fit their DC in 1-2 years time actually put them somewhere, forget about them and when they find these clothes 2-3 years later, they are too small.