Primark & Poundland - messy?

Ovalteenie · 15/08/10 - 09:55

Everytime I wander into a Primark late in the day it is always messy, with clothes in a jumble pile & also on the floor.

Also went into Poundland yesterday - really messy with stuff out of place & on the floor.

Is this a reflection of their clientele? Or is it cos they don't have the staff to keep the place tidy?

I never see this phenomenon in M&S - they are always neat & tidy.

Awshum-Yawn · 15/08/10 - 09:59

Both... they don't have the staff to keep the place tidy and customers tend not to worry where they're setting a £1 item down rather than a £100 jacket.

Steve_Whelan · 15/08/10 - 10:04

And if TV reports are to belived a lot of the staff are on unpaid work Experience on New Deal, if you were not getting paid to work full time i bet you would not care either.

belly button · 15/08/10 - 10:04

I think it's deliberate. It adds to the feeling of frenzied 'jumble sale' which makes you get your pound out quicker

Ovalteenie · 15/08/10 - 10:09

Another interesting thing...

When Borders was still trading normally, they were always neat & tidy & a pleasure to browse in. When they went into admin with 'everything must go' winding-down sale, it became really messy with books in piles & on the floor & no one seemed to care.

Does selling stuff cheap encourage a vulture-like mentality with no respect for the ambience?

It's an interesting point you make about customers not worrying when they set down a £1 item as opposed to a £100 item.

boozer3 · 15/08/10 - 10:16

The few times I've been in to the Primark near me (in fact there are two right next to each other) they haven't been too messy despite being very busy. The problem is that their stuff is so cheap people I saw were buying loads so everything was fully stocked with piles of stuff on rails and boxes too. It would be pointless having staff there just to tidy as it would be a constant battle. Perhaps there was but I can't remember seeing any.

Does selling stuff cheap encourage a vulture-like mentality with no respect for the ambience?

Oh yes. Remember those scenes from that new Ikea opening? :eek:

A321 · 15/08/10 - 10:20

Ovalteenie wrote: »

I never see this phenomenon in M&S - they are always neat & tidy.

Go to the big one in Camberley. That'll change your mind.

Abbasolutely 40 · 15/08/10 - 10:24

The two Primark ( known as Pennys in Ireland ) near me are poles apart , one is neat and tidy and well stocked , the other is dirty , untidy and higgledy piggledy . My guess is the manager has the control and one obviously couldnt give a toss.
Having said that the smell is the same in both ,.That Pennys smell is in them all .I always have wash everything before using it .

[Deleted User] · 15/08/10 - 10:38

I hate Primark.

Poundworld we have here, not Poundland. Its an okay shop with loads of bargains and always seems quite tidy. There are usually 2-3 staff filling up the shelves so they do make an effort.

[Deleted User] · 15/08/10 - 10:39

Abbasolutely 40 wrote: »

The two Primark ( known as Pennys in Ireland ) near me are poles apart , one is neat and tidy and well stocked , the other is dirty , untidy and higgledy piggledy . My guess is the manager has the control and one obviously couldnt give a toss.
Having said that the smell is the same in both ,.That Pennys smell is in them all .I always have wash everything before using it .

Is that the same smell you get in Game shops?

duffsdad · 15/08/10 - 10:40

People like mess. It's all part of making them thinking they have got a bargain if they have to route around in it. I also think the sheer volume of customers would make it impossible to keep tidy all the time. If you look at a £1 T-shirt and dont think it will fit etc, do people bother to fold it up and put it back? If you're looking at a £40 shirt, there's more chance you wont drop it on the floor. I have only been in Primark before work (around 9.30am) as the crowds and queues at the tills annoy me. (Plus I'm a little bit of a snob and our Primark is full of scum.) It's always clean and tidy then.

Abbasolutely 40 · 15/08/10 - 10:45

poppitypop wrote: »

Is that the same smell you get in Game shops?

LOL , I know that smell too , but not as bad as Penny s smell .

Ovalteenie · 15/08/10 - 10:47

Is the smell from the shop or from the clientele?

Abbasolutely 40 · 15/08/10 - 10:50

Ovalteenie wrote: »

Is the smell from the shop or from the clientele?

Well I have no problems shopping for bargains in Penneys , and I smell of Samsara by Guerlain .:)

netcurtains · 15/08/10 - 10:53

Primark and pound shops are neat and tidy here and a lot cheaper than M&S hence why the queues are much longer.

[Deleted User] · 15/08/10 - 10:55

Abbasolutely 40 wrote: »

LOL , I know that smell too , but not as bad as Penny s smell .

It's funny, Gamestation never smells like Game does. Why would that be?
More sweaty staff? Different clientele?

Terry Wigon · 15/08/10 - 11:02

I go into some clothes shops and there is a smell of polyester (or some other man-made fibre). It's not necessarily only the cheaper end of retail either. Some shops trade on their name and image but still sell bargain-basement quality clothes at a higher price than Primark, New Look or others of a similar profile.

Primark is OK but you have to be selective what you buy. A lot of the basic lines do seem to have gone up in price recently though I think. Depending on what time you go in it can be messy. The one in Birmingham seems to be horrendously busy and untidy whatever time of day you set foot in it.

I love the poundstores. I usually 'top up' from there every six weeks or so.

Tombstone · 15/08/10 - 11:04

Abbasolutely 40 wrote: »

Well I have no problems shopping for bargains in Penneys , and I smell of Samsara by Guerlain .:)

God I adore that perfume, but cannot persuade my wife to wear it at all.

queenshaks · 15/08/10 - 11:28

Our Primark and Poundland are the tidiest places in our town.

big_satsuma · 15/08/10 - 11:30

Places like Poundland and Primark sell low value stuff to a customer who is out for a bargain and not the whole experience, therefore are unlikely to invest in customer service training as it would not be needed. Places like Waitrose and Marks and Spencer invest in the customer experience and thats why its a more pleasurable experience (and higher prices).

Talking about other shops though, Next on sale day is horrendous

parsleyisfun · 15/08/10 - 11:50

The Primark and Poundland that we go to (in Telford, 2 hours away

) are always clean and well-stocked.

I love Primark

Gordie1 · 15/08/10 - 11:58

big_satsuma wrote: »

Places like Poundland and Primark sell low value stuff to a customer who is out for a bargain and not the whole experience, therefore are unlikely to invest in customer service training as it would not be needed. Places like Waitrose and Marks and Spencer invest in the customer experience and thats why its a more pleasurable experience (and higher prices).

Talking about other shops though, Next on sale day is horrendous

It has nothing to do with the staff, the messyness is 100% about the customers not having respect for others while shopping.

I frequently see people open things to check the size/smell/feel of something, say to their friens, yeah i like that, then throw the pile of opened cardboard, plastic and product onto the shelf/floor and pick up an unopened one and go off to the next item to destroy.

The people just think that as it is a cheap item that somehow they can wreck the shop and some other mug can go tidy later.

I'm all right jack is the order of the day in low cost shops im afraid.

If the shop is relatively quiet the staff have a fighting chance to tidy as they go, but if the shop is rammed, and customers are throwing stuff around like in a jumble sale, what are they supposed to do?

ProgRocker · 15/08/10 - 12:20

I like the stuff that Primark sell but I despise most of the other shoppers in there.

Best to go in there just after they first open up, imho.

stud u like · 15/08/10 - 12:26

Both these places attract chavs.

CXC3000 · 15/08/10 - 12:27

Ovalteenie wrote: »

Everytime I wander into a Primark late in the day it is always messy, with clothes in a jumble pile & also on the floor.

Also went into Poundland yesterday - really messy with stuff out of place & on the floor.

Is this a reflection of their clientele? Or is it cos they don't have the staff to keep the place tidy?

I never see this phenomenon in M&S - they are always neat & tidy.

belly button wrote: »

I think it's deliberate. It adds to the feeling of frenzied 'jumble sale' which makes you get your pound out quicker

Lol !

dream stuffing · 15/08/10 - 18:14

Ovalteenie wrote: »

Everytime I wander into a Primark late in the day it is always messy, with clothes in a jumble pile & also on the floor.

Also went into Poundland yesterday - really messy with stuff out of place & on the floor.

Is this a reflection of their clientele? Or is it cos they don't have the staff to keep the place tidy?

I never see this phenomenon in M&S - they are always neat & tidy.

The poundland in my home Town is neat and tidy as is the next nearest one (may-be not as good, but ok)

Another as oppend in another near-by Town which so far appears miles better (being tidy etc) but the one issue in my home Town i've got is we've not got the posh baskets what most have got (those awful plastic type ones, we have. That look & appear to never have been cleaned sine England last got to a World Cup or Euro Semi Final (ie 1990/96 :rolleyes), but somehow though I like/love the mess of a Poundland mess ... it's almost like a Car-boot sale!!

As for Primark, the shop just sells total 101% trash which is total rubbish anyway ... even if I was skint - which I know of people who are (i'm saying this so i'm not sounding/accused of being a snob by the way) but why do people shop there amaze me as Charity Shop's off better brand-new and 2nd hand (worn once) clothes than Primark ever could.

Hey there!

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Primark & Poundland - messy?

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