I spend rather too much time in BHS, especially considering I have a young, hip and trendy image to maintain (!). However I do have a very good excuse - I work in one. Well, technically I work in an Iceland in one, but you get the general idea (and I’m not plugging my ‘actual’ place of work!). So by now I think I can give you a run down on the pros and cons.

BHS actually opened it’s doors as British Home Stores way back in 1928, so after over 70 years of trading they should have got the hang of it by now! Essentially a department store in the way that C&A (R.I.P) was, but stocking the same type of clothes and other goods as M&S, BHS has been suffering of late. The store I work in is particularly quiet, although it does seem to produce very loyal customers.

Customer Service

I can without doubt say that the people who work in BHS are a very nice bunch of people. They are very helpful and there is always staff around to help any customers who feel a bit lost – even the Iceland staff try to help out on queries, even though we know nothing about shoe sizes, children’s clothing or the infamous Choice Card (I’ll be getting to that later). I have never had any problem when buying from BHS and the staff always have a smile on their faces. You can return products for a refund or exchange if you are unhappy with your purchases

Style

I can’t really figure out which market BHS are aiming for. The clothes they sell are often very plain and in quite traditional styles, but occasionally new stock will arrive that’s clearly aimed at 18-25 year olds. I think that, like M&S, they have been attempting to up-date their image however this doesn’t seem to have been fully carried out. In general the clothes are ok to look at but are nothing inspiring, although I recognise that, as a 20 year old, they aren’t really targeting me. However, on the basics such as suits and plain t-shirts you can’t really go wrong.

Quality

I have mixed feeling about the quality of BHS clothing. I have (and I am currently wearing!) some denim embroidered jeans which have been fantastic. They wash well, iron perfectly and haven’t faded despite frequent wear. The fabric looks and feels as good as the day I bought it. However I have a pair of combat style olive green trousers, which were terrible from the day I bought them (they were in a sale – that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!!). If you iron them on anything over the lowest heat of the iron, they stick to it and then the fabric goes brittle. They also have worn very thin despite the fact that I have only worn them a few times. Despite this purchase, I think overall the quality is not too bad – you never see garments with torn hems or unfinished edges on display unlike in some shops.

Range

There are a number of different ranges sold in most BHS stores. I have already mentioned the women’s clothing, but they also sell Men’s clothing, Children’s clothing, Bridal Wear (in selected stores), Back to School (again in selected stores), Homewear, Shoes and Jewellery.

The Men’s clothing seems to follow the same sort of theme as the women’s – basic suits, shirts and ties, but nothing that is unique or particularly inspiring. They also seem to do a horrific range in novelty underwear and socks – you know the type of thing you buy your Dad for Christmas because you can’t think what else to buy him! The clothes are reasonably priced but most younger men wouldn’t dream of buying any of their stock!

The Children’s wear is slightly better though. They do have some truly cute clothes for younger children. In Iceland we were particularly impressed with the zebra print skirt which they had last year, and they do often stock clothes featuring Thomas the Tank Engine and other famous children’s characters. The prices are fairly reasonable considering that they seem to be good quality.

The jewellery is very reasonably and I get very tempted everytime I come out of work! They have earrings and necklace sets for £5, three pairs of earrings for between £3 and £5, and lots of hair accessories. They don’t sell ‘real’ jewellery, but they do sell both gold and silver tone accessories.

The Restaurant

The restaurant in our store is situated in a large section upstairs. There is plenty of seating (non-smoking and smoking areas) and children’s highchair available. They sell sandwiches as well as a limited range of main meals. The meals (at around £5) are not particularly good value for money – I had lasagne one Sunday (after I’d been working all the morning and was ravenous) and I was very unimpressed. It was luke warm and you only received a small portion (on the smallest plate I’d ever seen – my chips kept falling off every time I tried to spear one with a fork!). I wouldn’t advise anyone to eat in the restaurant unless they were desperate – Littlewoods or the Co-Op’s restaurants are both better.

The Choice Card

As I have so far avoided getting one of these (to add to my Dorothy Perkins and Tescos ones!) I can’t tell you too much about it! I can tell you that they are easy to apply for (a short form) and that (in our store at least) the staff don’t ask you every time you buy something if you want one – If I get asked in New Look one more time I think I’ll have to kill someone! Choice Card holders get first dibs on sale items and there are occasional Choice night where the shop is opened late just for card holders (Iceland also stays open so go and buy a loaf of bread!). I’ll try and find out a little more! They also have a Gold Card which is a credit card, in the same vein as the Boots Advantage card powered by Egg.

Verdict

BHS suffers from being too ordinary when it come to both Mens and Womens clothes. There is nothing in BHS that makes you desperate to go in and have a look, which is a shame because, once inside the staff are helpful and very friendly. The prices are ok, but the quality can be a bit suspect. My advice would be to visit during the sale (or even better work for them and then visit the sale – staff – including staff from Icelands in BHSs – get a 20% discount on sale goods as well as everything else), check the quality well before you buy the item and keep your receipt. I will say that a 5 pack of pants is only £7 and that you can buy 2 packs for £10 – that is by far and away the best value and quality product I’ve ever bought from BHS and I’d recommend the pants to anyone!

BHS
Vicar Lane
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
S40 1PY
Tel. 01246 272730