Retailers that keep up with the 21st and those that don't

[Rhiannon]

Has anyone noticed how trendy Clarks are these days? Fantastic marketing and the "new shoes?" ads. I've just watched their latest advert which was pretty good too. I am a Clarks convert, I love em.

On the opposite foot (no pun intended) in my opinion I think Mothercare has gone down hill really badly. Closing shops (not surprised). Nerdy Bob the Builder clothes for 7-8 year olds. Never enough stock in the shops. Trying to be trendy but never quite managing it. I really think they should stick to clothes for under 5's or change the dodgy image. Shame really, some of the buyers need shooting.

I definitely agree about Mothercare. DD is only 12 months old but I do like her to be dressed relatively modern. I find that most of their clothes are just too traditional for us. I thought they had supposed to have undergone a big revamp not so long back? Adams can be a bit like it too at times. I think I'll definitely be sticking to Next and Gap. I really like Next children's clothes - modern, good quality, hard wearing and very reasonable priced. Never used my directory so much as the past year!

Just been to Clarks in past week or so to get DD some canvas shoes - lovely they were too.Struggled with proper shoes from there though. All the little girl's shoes in DD's size were blue - we wanted balck patent leather. Ended up at Clinks and Adams instead.

Mothercare are awful, I agree. I think they had a near monopoly for a long time and got complacent. Haven't been into Clarks for ages but I had noticed their ads had got better.

Another shop DH wouldn't touch with a barge pole is Burtons. Is it me or is it nerdy?