Since Mintel’s last Value Clothing Retailing report in 2005, the market has changed significantly. The big retailers have become bigger (notably the supermarkets and Primark) and some of the smaller players have found trading very tough: some have exited the market and others have needed rescuing/refinancing. However, while the clothing market overall has been very challenging in 2006 and 2007 (due both to economic issues and the weather), Mintel estimates that the value clothing sector has outperformed the rest of the clothing market and that value specialists now account for 15.1% of all clothing specialists’ sales.

The other key change has been the blurring of the boundaries between value retailers and the middle market. The former have broadened their appeal and ‘good/better/best’ price ranges, and product architecture, as well as enhanced their store environments; the latter have sharpened their opening price points and become a lot more competitive.