Matalan (Shop)

I happen to live about ten minutes walk away from a Matalan store. This can be very handy at times when a little retail therapy is needed. Whether you decide to revamp your wardrobe or your home... they have got it all!

~~~Matalan the Company~~~

Matalan is an out of town national retailing company committed to providing quality fashion and home wares at great value. They buy direct from the manufacturer and their stores are out of town, enabling them to operate on lower margins. Matalan can offer prices at up to 50% less than some of their competitors.

John Hargreaves opened the first store at Preston in 1985. Now, Matalan have over 130 stores nationwide.

With over 10,000 employees it is one of the fastest growing retailers in the UK.

Falmer, Wrangler, Leecooper, Sloggi, Playtex, Pringle and Calvin Klein are brand names which can be found within the store. Matalan's own ranges include Zantos, Armando, Et Vous, Papaya and coming soon Jeff & Co by Jeff Banks.

~~~Membership Scheme~~~

Matalan operates a membership scheme whereby customers need to ' join' , in order to make a purchase. This can be done by filling out a small form, basically entering your name and address. They will then recieve a 'Matalan' card, this is simply handed over when a purchase is made. It is now free to join, but at one time did cost £1, which was a bit of a cheek really, I'm sure many customers refused to join, and that's why it's now free.
Occasionally mailers are sent out to customers, these will feature current products and often contain a voucher for use within the store.

~~~Matalan the Store~~~

As mentioned already, Matalan stores are located out of town, often close to a supermarket. They have their own car park so are fairly convenient for shoppers.

Once inside the automatic doors, you can choose to take a basket, a trolley, or neither. You can walk through the various departments at your own leisure. These departments will move around fairly often, so just as you are getting used to where your favourite brand of knickers are shelved, they will move.

Men's and Ladies changing rooms mean that you can try on anything that takes your fancy, before you decide to buy. A maximum of four items at a time though.

If you choose to buy anything then you will notice that there are about ten checkouts in a row. Let's hope that there is more than one cashier! At one end of these cash desks will be a 'Reception', this is where to go if you need to return items or make any other requests.

~~~Departments~~~

Childrenswear
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This section is divided into Babies, boys, and girls.

Girls stocks the most choice, here you can find several different styles of clothing, underwear, nightwear, outdoor jackets and coats along with footwear. There is the same selection for boy's, just on a smaller level.

Baby clothes include, unisex, boys or girls.

School uniform in abundance, especially leading up to September.

Ladieswear
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This is by far the biggest department in the store. That says something doesn't it Ladies! In this section you can find Casual wear, formal wear, Swim wear, underwear, nightwear and jewellery, as well as Handbags, coats, belts etc.

Menswear
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A large choice of suits at extremely good value can be found on this department, with plenty of shirts and ties to acompany them.
There are also wide varities of jeans, T-shirts, underwear, outdoor coats and jackets and footwear.

Homeware
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Bathroom, bedroom, kitchen through to lounge. Loads here!
Shower curtains, toilet roll holders, bathmats.
Duvet covers, throws, sheets, duvets,pillows.
Dishes, knife blocks, lunchboxes, tea towels.
Pictures, cushions, lamps, candles.

All this and a whole lot more.

Travel
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At various places around the store you can find products related to travel. Matalan offer very good value suitcases in a number of styles and colours. Stands containing small travel accessories are also on offer, such as, plug adaptor, travel wallet etc.

Seasonal Stuff
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Christmas, Easter, Halloween....
Matalan stock a good selection of products to match the current holiday season. These items are normally very good value compared to other stores. The biggest choice of goods is in the lead up to Christmas, as you might imagine, when you can find cards, wrapping paper, crackers, decorations, advent calendars, some toys, stockings, well all this and much much more.

~~~Payment~~~

Cash, cheques with a guarentee card, and most credit cards are accepted as a way of payment, although Solo is not accepted by Matalan.

~~~Your Rights~~~

Matalan state that as along as you have your receipt and it is within 28 days, then you can have a full refund if you wish to return an item to the store for whatever reason.
You can also be refunded in full if an item is faulty.
I believe that if you return something without a receipt or outside of the 28 days, then credit notes will be given.

~~~My Opinion~~~

I think that Matalan is indeed good value to me the customer and although I do like a lot of their products, some do not appeal to me quite so much.
I like the ' Falmer' range of clothing and believe that to be excellent quality and value. However, some items from their budget range, aren't just cheap, they look poor quality too. They do however serve a purpose.

Children grow out of their clothes so quickly that they don't need to be the best quality in the world, so Matalan's range is ideal. Kids love the trendy clothes and accessories on offer.

Queues can sometimes be very long, Matalan do endeavour to keep these down and will at busy times, call all available staff to tills. I have found customer service good, although have not had a reason to make any complaints anyway.

Although it doesn't compare to Next, for instance, Matalan manages to keep up with the fashions of the moment and still offer unbeatable prices. Well done!

~~~Further Information~~~

For more information, you can visit the Matalan website at:

http://www.matalan.co.uk

Thanks for reading. Kim