Tell a sample of ten women that QS is tipped to be the next new Primark and nine will say: “QS? Never heard of it.” The one woman from the group who has some knowledge of this chain will recall childhood shopping trips to QS, in its earlier existence as Quality Seconds, the haunt of thrifty middle-class families.
Quality Seconds, founded in the 1930s as a supplier to Marks & Spencer, became QS in the 1980s, when it gave up manufacturing to become solely a retailer. The chain was certainly cheap, but, latterly, insufficiently chic to cut it in the catwalk-copy sector. Earlier this year, it went into administration, a process that allows a business to be either wound up or rescued. Findlay Caldwell, QS’s new boss, chose to fight and the company is now out of administration. He has closed 134 shops and is trying to turn the remaining 207 into places that could appeal to the Primark posse.
One result of this strategy is a range of frocks (£12-£16) that has inspired the “next Primark” chatter. Last week, however, the gossip appeared not to have spread to Ballards Lane in Finchley, North London, the site of one of QS’s ten London area stores. Even the lure of 20 per cent off everything for one day only seemed to leave Finchley unmoved: it was chilly, but the passers-by did not warm to the idea of cosy hats and gloves (£1.50) and snug boots (£18). This had much to do with the store’s grim appearance, which owed nothing to contemporary retail decor thinking (bright, light and welcoming). My husband — who was with me to see for himself a chain in reinvention mode — remarked that we, too, would have walked on by, were this not a Chain Reaction assignment.
But the feeling that this was a duty visit began to vanish when I came upon the ballerina pumps (bronze, gold, silver and sequined) for just £10 a pair and the party dresses in leopard print (£12) and in black lace (£18). These glamorous items were both extraordinarily inexpensive and, given the general lack of familiarity with QS, not easily traceable to source — Primark’s prize pieces can be immediately recognisable to those in the know.
Between the wide selection of big knickers and the Santa shorty nighties (£15, just in case you were interested), I found a Marni-like dark grey shift dress (£16, also in black and pale grey). My husband became almost persuaded that QS might truly be resolved to compete with Primark.
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As I, unlike the folk of Finchley, was feeling the cold, I also bought a long black cardigan (£12). My two purchases, after the discount, cost just £22. We walked out, as gratified by these bargains as the Quality Seconds’s customers of yore. But then my husband spotted something: the clothes had been put not into a QS bag, but into one with a NafNaf logo. Recycling? Or a subconscious desire to stay out of the limelight? Who can tell?
The links in the chain
Hamsard 2353, the QS holding company, made pre-tax losses of £7 million on sales of £188 million in the year to January 2005.
Detail is retail
Layout: rather in need of a refit 5/10
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Staff: low-key 6/10
Changing rooms: clean, good mirrors 6/10
Bags: smart design — when available 6/10
Overall score: a party dress for less than the cab fare home 6/10
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