Next Plc

Next is a retail success story which has achieved and sustained an impressive rate of growth since it first started trading in the early 1980s.

The Next product range has become the natural choice for fashion conscious men and women who expect style, quality and value in everything from the clothes they wear to the furniture in their homes.

Whether a customer chooses to visit one of their Next retail stores, use the Next Directory or visit the Next website, the most powerful attraction continues to be the strength of the brand and a consistency of design, quality and value their customers know they can trust.

The pioneering launch of the Next Retail chain in February 1982 had an immediate and major influence on high streets throughout the UK. The continued success of Next’s innovative shopping concept has provided the company with an outstanding record of achievement.

Distinctive styling and exclusive designs have given Next a strong brand image which remains their greatest asset. Next Womenswear quickly became synonymous with value for money, good quality fashionable clothes designed to meet the demands of busy lifestyles. By the end of its first season the new Next concept had proved so successful that it was already trading from 70 stores throughout the UK.

Within two years they extended their range to introduce Next for Men specialising in key lines such as fashionable shirts, t-shirts and chino’s. Once again this exciting new retail concept developed so quickly that after only twelve months Next’s Menswear had grown from 52 to 130 stores.

1984 also saw the launch of the first mini department store in Edinburgh which gave customers the opportunity to see the complete range of NEXT Womenswear, Menswear, shoes and accessories.

NEXT expanded into home furnishings with the introduction of NEXT Interiors in August 1985. Quality and value for money were fundamental to a range of products that offered individuality as well as contemporary co-ordination for the home.

An exclusive new range of childrenswear called simply ‘NEXT Boys and Girls’ arrived on the high street in 1987 aimed to appeal primarily to 25-45 year old parents looking to dress their children in quality, design led clothing.

However, probably the most innovative of all Next’s products came in January 1988 with the arrival of Next Directory - a totally new concept in home shopping. For the first time in history mail order became an acceptable, respectable and fashionable way to buy. Clothes were beautifully presented in a unique hard-backed book and delivery promised within, a previously unheard of, 48 hours from receipt of order.

Later in the same year the initial success of the Next Directory brought the introduction of Next Directory Shops and a Gold Award for Direct Marketing from The Royal Mail, for the most outstanding consumer campaign of 1988

Source www.next.co.uk