Footwear Spring 13 - Manchester
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Hit or miss: Kurt Geiger - 27/30
The only store in which the men’s offer is as good as the women’s, and a cut above in terms of design.
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Hit or miss: New Look - 26/30
With unbelievably low prices and some really strong designs, New Look is a winner for bargain hunters.
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Hit or miss: River Island - 25/30
Proves you don’t have to compromise on quality to keep prices low. The merchandising is strong too.
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Hit or miss: Topshop/Topman - 24/30
Could have scored higher but is let down by a lack of new product and an extensive Sale in Topman.
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Hit or miss: Dune - 23/30
Surprises with some unexpectedly fashion-forward styles but could do with a wider casual range.
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Hit or miss: Office - 23/30
Merchandising lets this store down - which is a shame, as what’s on offer looks on song for spring 13.
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Hit or miss: Clarks - 22/30
Quality is key at Clarks, but the well-manufactured shoes lack design inspiration.
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Hit or miss: Dorothy Perkins - 22/30
Despite spring stock being in full bloom ahead of the weather, the offer is strong but slightly too expensive.
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Hit or miss: Aldo - 20/30
Good on trends, but a little more design innovation is needed if the price points are to be justified.
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Hit or miss: Next - 20/30
Next is let down by its customer service, which is a shame as on product and value it scores well.
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Hit or miss: Jones Bootmaker - 18/30
Uninspiring product and uncompetitive prices - Jones Bootmaker struggles to hold its own.
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Hit or miss: Schuh - 16/30
With too much going on with the displays, better product is left in the shadows and quality disappoints.
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Hit or miss: Soletrader - 15/30
With too many casual styles, Soletrader struggles to inspire and its own brand is overpriced.
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Hit or miss: Deichmann - 14/30
A confusing layout and disappointing product mean this store can’t compete in the fierce footwear market.
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Hit or miss: Barratts - 11/30
Lazy merchandising and a strictly limited range of product leave this branch of Barratts out in the cold.
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Hit or miss - Manchester
Visiting Manchester city centre in midweek, I expected shoppers to be thin on the ground compared with the scrum I’d battled through on a visit to The Trafford Centre at the weekend.
Menswear Spring 13 - Croydon
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Hit or miss - Croydon
Croydon’s retail profile has had a tough time in recent years.
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Hit or miss: Topman - 25/30
Spring 13’s top trends all appear alongside a host of new updates in a pleasant, well-merchandised store.
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Hit or miss: French Connection 24/30
Some of the key trends well interpreted in a French Connection way, housed in a lovely store.
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Hit or miss: River Island - 24/30
A good-looking store with all the product we’d expect to see for the colourful spring season.
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Hit or miss: Next - 23/30
A strong mix of the season’s trends alongside good core basics, although a blip in service loses points.
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Hit or miss: Primark - 21/30
The trends are covered and the shopping experience is unexpectedly pleasant, but value is questionable.
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Hit or miss: Marks & Spencer - 20/30
A messy Sale area and untidy store let down a solid product offer that provides good value for money.
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Hit or miss: Superdry - 19/30
Superdry’s store looks smart but overall the collection lacks newness.
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Hit or miss: Debenhams - 18/30
Debenhams has a good offer from varied collections, but the storefit is showing its age.
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Hit or miss: Burton - 16/30
Makes a good attempt at the season’s trends but is undermined by poor value and a tired shopfit.
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Hit or miss: Zara - 16/30
Some less-than-impressive product here, combined with a neglected store environment.
Womenswear Spring 13 - Manchester
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Hit or miss - The Trafford Centre, Manchester
Growing up near the Trafford Centre in Manchester, my friends and I relished the opportunity to be let loose in a place where we could spend our small savings while our parents hid in the food court, safe in the knowledge we couldn’t run amok within the confines of the building.
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Hit or miss: Mango - 28/30
A great range of competitively priced styles and a top-notch store make Mango number one.
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Hit or miss: Topshop - 27/30
With carefully edited product and excellent merchandising, this is definitely a top shop.
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Hit or miss: New Look - 26/30
Continues to deliver great value for its younger customers while keeping pace with trends.
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Hit or miss: Dorothy Perkins - 23/30
Although it doesn’t push the fashion boundaries, Dorothy Perkins still delivers the key trends.
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Hit or miss: Forever 21 - 23/30
Forever 21 knows its target market and delivers on trends, although it could do with more variety.
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Hit or miss: River Island - 20/30
The Rihanna range’s limelight hogging banished some more deserving pieces to the shadows.
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Hit or miss: Warehouse - 19/30
Warehouse scores for product but loses points for putting markdowns centre stage.
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Hit or miss: Oasis - 18/30
The pricing architecture in Oasis is well thought out, unlike the placement of product in store.
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Hit or miss: Karen Millen - 16/30
An appealing store with friendly staff, but the pricing is far too high and uncompetitive.
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Hit or miss: Marks & Spencer - 16/30
Having too many sub-brands isn’t working in Marks & Spencer’s favour at the moment
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Hit or miss: French Connection - 15/30
With such high prices, French Connection needs to take better care of its product and its store.
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Hit or miss: Miss Selfridge - 15/30
Although merchandising and design are OK, products lack quality and don’t justify the prices.
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Hit or miss: Next - 15/30
Despite a refurbishment taking place, Next could have given more thought to its offer
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Hit or miss: Zara - 15/30
Zara disappoints with a messy store, uninspiring product mix and lazy visual merchandising.
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Hit or miss: H&M - 13/30
With too much stock and not enough space, H&M needs to consider how much is too much.
Footwear Autumn 12 - Chester
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Hit or Miss - Next
Product right for its customer and top service keep Next one step ahead of its rivals
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Hit or Miss - Topshop/Topman
Strong, trend-led styles mean this retail duo leads the Arcadia pack
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Hit or Miss - Clarks
A quality, value-for-money offer with broad appeal from the high street stalwart
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Hit or Miss - Office
All the season’s key trends ticked off with a wide offer to appeal to a broad spectrum of shoppers
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Hit or Miss - River Island
A few untidy moments take the edge off a trend-led overall offer.
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Hit or Miss - Zara
A very strong women’s range offering some unique styles is let down by poor shop floor management.
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Hit or Miss - Jones Bootmaker
Some on-trend options at the premium end of the high street but more bravery is needed.
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Hit or Miss - Foot Locker
Sports styles naturally dominate in this busy store with competitively priced stock.
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Hit or Miss - H&M
More trend-led styles and some improvement in levels of value makes for a better offer this season.
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Hit or Miss - Soletrader
Concentrating on casual styles is fine but means a lack of trends and too summery product.
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Hit or Miss - Dune
A solid range, if missing a little in terms of excitement. It also comes off a touch pricey.
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Hit or Miss - New Look
Ticking off trends and going-out styles alike, it’s the quality and attention to detail that loses points.
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Hit or Miss - Primark
Women’s trends are here but poor quality and a weak men’s offer leave Primark bringing up the rear.
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Hit or Miss - Ecco
Overpriced boot styles and poor signage give this middle-of-the-road store an ordinary score.
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Hit or Miss - Marks & Spencer
The high street giant’s poor shop-floor organisation put it at the wrong end of the scoreboard.
Menswear Autumn 12 - Bromley
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Hit or Miss - H&M
Shambolic organisation and layout, poor clothes and questionable quality put H&M bottom of the pile.
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Hit or Miss - GAP
The purveyor of all things preppy has lost its identity in the UK with menswear difficult to find in store.
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Hit or Miss - Burton
A well-kept, tidy shop floor can’t make up for the excessive promotions and dearth of fresh trends.
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Hit or Miss - Topman
A huge amount of markdowns and promotions takes the edge off the trend-led fare.
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Hit or Miss - River Island
A cramped and unbalanced space doesn’t make the most of the best of the product.
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Hit or Miss - Zara
A bit of a fall from grace from Spring 12’s heights but still a dependable menswear operation.
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Hit or Miss - French Connection
Simple, unfussy style in smart, clean surroundings makes for a decent French Connection store.
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Hit or Miss - Massimo Dutti
A classic menswear store feel created by a retailer quietly going about its business.
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Hit or Miss - Marks & Spencer
The cornerstone of the high street is doing a solid job for men despite a few VM issues.
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Hit or Miss - Primark
The no-frills fashion behemoth hits some high notes at its level of the market.
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Hit or Miss - Next
A very smart, slick and welcoming environment with stock to match.
Womenswear Autumn 12 - Watford
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Hit or miss: Next - 26/30
One of the most competitive offers, with trends perfectly interpreted to its customer.
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Hit or miss: Primark - 24/30
Primark continues to offer trend-led and basic products at the lowest prices in town
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Hit or miss: Zara - 24/30
Zara continues to be the place to go to for trends at affordable prices.
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Hit or miss: River Island - 23/30
The best store in The Harlequin centre has key trends and River Island’s unique handwriting
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Hit or miss: BHS - 22/30
BHS delivers on its advertising campaign strapline by impressing with a design-led collection.
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Hit or miss: Warehouse - 22/30
One of the season’s standout items is found in a tiny store that maximises space
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Hit or miss: H&M - 21/30
A strong, if slightly small, collection of great trend-led product at attractive prices.
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Hit or miss: New Look - 21/30
A much-improved offer from previous seasons perfectly bought for its demographic.
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Hit or miss: Marks & Spencer - 20/30
Per Una hits the spot and Limited offers standout items, but rival Next wins on price.
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Hit or miss: Oasis - 20/30
Oasis backs the Victoriana trend with key pieces and lures shoppers with a knitwear discount.
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Hit or miss: Dorothy Perkins - 19/30
Some good trend interpretations at good prices, but lacking the wow factor
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Hit or miss: Monsoon - 19/30
Monsoon’s premium positioning gives it a point of difference, although prices may be too high.
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Hit or miss: Topshop - 18/30
As you’d expect, Topshop had most trends covered, but this is a small, uninspiring store.
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Hit or miss: Gap - 16/30
An attractive knitwear offer, but innovation and a better full-price strategy is needed.
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Hit or miss: French Connection - 12/30
Uninspiring product and a 75%-off Sale that wasn’t attracting shoppers.
