We road test new uber-cheap clobber as Poundland rolls-out its own clothing range – but there’s a twist
Sun journalist Gemma Mullin went to Poundland in Woolwich, south east London, to try out the new Pep&Co range where items cost from £1 to a maximum of £25
POUNDLAND is known for its rock-bottom prices on essential household items but it could get set to conquer the world of supermarket fashion.
The budget chain recently launched its own line of clothing with a range of women's, men's and kids' clothing - but with most items costing over a quid, is it any good?
I went to one in Woolwich, south-east London, which is one of the first stores to welcome the Pep&Co range, to road test the new uber-cheap clobber for myself.
I was surprised how different the clothing department looked compared to the rest of the shop.
The stock was laid out on rails similar to any other highstreet fashion retailer, complete with fitting rooms.
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The brand, marketed as a "shop within a shop", offers various items including popular £1 babygrows and a £1 children's polo shirt for school.
Though in arms reach of the staple items for a quid, not all of the clothing is marked at a pound - the most expensive item is a £25 men's jacket.
Pep&Co boast 95 per cent of its range costs under a tenner and it's easy to see how you could put a whole outfit together for under £15.
Marketing director Karen Harris told me the brand's key bestsellers are by far the £3 black ladies leggings, which she described as a "staple in any woman's wardrobe".
In fact Pep&Co sold 8 million items of clothing last year and it anticipates selling 5 million of the leggings alone this year.
She added: "We started out with a very basic range but we've now got a full team of designers and we change our stock every eight weeks with key seasonal pieces."
With Karen's help I picked out some clothes to try on.
I went straight for the bestselling £3 leggings. At only 5ft 3in I struggle with length with both leggings and trousers as they typically tend to be too long.
So I was surprised the leg on these sat just above my ankle. Considering they are less than the cost of a meal deal I thought the material was a good quality and they felt soft.
But for me personally, I prefer my leggings to be a bit more Lycra to stop them slipping down and sitting uncomfortably at the crotch.
WHAT SHOPPERS BOUGHT
Shopper Maureen Hetherington had just tried on an £8 striped jumper when she told me: "I only came in for gardening stuff when I saw they had clothes. I saw this jumper and I thought it looked fashionable and unique. I tried it on and really liked the fit so I'm going to pick up one in another colour."
Samira Adom, from Woolwich, said she had been shopping in nearby Shoe Zone for sandals for her five-year-old as they have a holiday coming up.
"I bought a pair in there then I've just come in here to get some other bits and saw another pair that are much nicer and cheaper.
"There's a lot of variety and the price is good."
I teamed this with the trendy £12 blue and white striped shirt and a simple pair of black dolly shoes for £4, making the total cost for this outfit £19.
My favourite outfit was the "activewear" style - where I picked a coral hoodie (£9), vest (£2), high waist leggings (£5) and trainers (£10).
All of the items were comfortable - I thought these leggings were much more comfy than the £3 bestsellers, however they were a little on the long side for the petite ladies.
Overall the items are fashionable but more importantly affordable.
I'm not sure how many people will go out of their way to shop their specifically for clothes but I could definitely see why people would fancy a browse if they had popped in to Poundland for their regular weekly bits.
Pep&Co opened its first standalone store in Kettering, Northamptonshire, in July 2015 and impressively within 50 days it had opened 50 more.
Last month it began rolling out the "shop within a shop" Poundland stores and yesterday managing director Adrian Mountford announced plans to open 50 more by the autumn of this year.
It'll bring Pep&Co's store total to nearly 170 shops nationwide, with the first Northern Ireland shop next week.
Darren Vernon, retail operations director, said: "I think Poundland’s classless, I really do. There is, when it comes to clothing a little bit of a stigma sometimes with some people who don’t want to buy clothes from a supermarket.
"It’s a little bit of snobbery really, and that’ll never go away, I always liken it to when you go for something to eat.
"Some people are quite happy to go to McDonald’s, some like going down the pub, some like going to the Ritz. It’s about choice, isn’t it?
"I think these brands have become more and more classless over the last five years."
Mr Vernon said with each store they hope to employ about five or six staff members for the clothing department, as well as giving current Poundland employees a "sexier" area to work too.
He added that future plans include extending the men's range to be "less safe".
"We were saying we need some colour pops in menswear just to catch people’s eye.
"It’s quite safe at the minute. We were in exactly the same place on women’s 12 months ago and that’s moved on no end.
"We’d love to own an 8,000 square foot shop and see how it goes, but one thing at a time."
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