Bargain hunters head to chain’s closing down sale
EAGER shoppers have been queuing for a bargain after Mothercare announced it was going into administration.
Customers flocked to Mothercare stores in Cardiff and Swansea yesterday after a nationwide closing down sale was announced.
At the Culverhouse Cross store in Cardiff, queues snaked from the tills through to the back of the store. While at the Parc Tawe Retail Park store in Swansea some shoppers said they queued for nearly an hour just to get inside the shop.
But some customers admitted feeling let down that discounts were not for larger amounts. The sale was announced following news the baby and maternity retailer is preparing to close all of its 79 stores after administrators were appointed earlier this week.
Mothercare announced yesterday morning that a “massive closing down sale” would start with items “dramatically reduced” but with some exceptions.
It said customers could “expect to find a huge range of discounts and bargains as all stock must go”.
But some customers were disappointed to find that some items were only reduced by up to 20%.
Julie Evans, from Swansea, bought a discounted travel cot. “It wasn’t worth coming down to be honest,” Julie said. “I got 10% off but their mark up is bigger anyway so I don’t think I saved much in the end. I got here about 45 minutes ago and there aren’t many people in the store now, just a bit of a queue at the tills so I don’t know why they’re making people queue out here for so long.”
Another shopper at the Swansea store said: “There’s nothing in the store suggesting there is a sale. You just take your items to the till and they apply a discount there.”
Debbie Lewis, 54, went to Mothercare at Valegate Retail Park in Culverhouse Cross on Friday to start her Christmas shopping.
“I got some good stuff,” she said. “Mainly Pepper Pig things for my granddaughter. It should have come to seventy-odd pounds but I paid about £40 so it was a good deal.
“I would have got them anyway but when I heard they were closing I had to rush down.”
Debbie said Mothercare had been a “lifesaver” when her grandson was younger. The grandmother-of-two said although the queue was long it only took her about 20 minutes to be served at the till.
A spokesman for Mothercare Cardiff said: “This is a great opportunity for customers to pick up some amazing deals as everything is reduced.”