Summer Sales Soar

Now in almost its third week, the summer sales are keeping both retailers and consumers alike in a mad shopping frenzy. Walking along London's Oxford Street mid-week resembles more a Saturday than a rainy Monday as in the past, with pedestrians and shoppers carrying a plethora of bags like someone moving house.

Recent reports in magazines and newspapers have given shoppers hints on how to manage the sales and get the best bargains, of which I, too, have been guilty. Consumers today are canny, however, and are generally not prone to the industry trick of buying unnecessary goods at half price. In a 24/7 economy with non-stop advertising and subtle (and not so subtle) imaging in everything from magazines to softdrink products, shoppers are buying what they need, not what they necessarily have seen.

To confirm this, it is couture-like catwalk pieces and potential fashion-disaster garments that get left on the rails. And as much as I like to follow the fashion-forward trends, i.e. next season is all about green and orange acid colours, the bright fitted trouser I recently spotted at a hip London boutique is doomed to remain on the rail and should not be in anyone's closet. No matter how enticing the bargain!

With recent reports stating the high street is up on sales over the same period last year, we are seeing signs of a positive spin for retailers, who have had a tough winter season. There has even been suggesting that the CBI's sale survey was being talked down to help push through an interest rate cut. When the British Retail Consortium's figures get published this week, the numbers should be slightly more confident than earlier reports. Let's hope the new collections to hit the stores next month are exciting enough to continue the trend. (Don-Alvin Adegeest)