Little peace or goodwill on first day of sales – fashion archive, 1956

Among the rails which had once held coats and the deep tissue-paper underfoot, the last hunting women of the day moved and sought. They seemed not to notice each other directly; only, in a dangerous way, to be aware of the direction of each other’s glances, as hungry men are suddenly aware that one of them is out for a second helping. A coat lies neglected for hours, and suddenly four women have their hands on it, and a shopgirl is babbling peace for all she is worth.

Last night, after the first day of the great winter sales in Manchester, the exhausted sales staffs were exchanging horror stories and recognising their biggest success since the war.

They dread the shoppers who bargain and attempt to beat them down. They know the faces of the women coming to tell them that their stock is all relabelled trash bought up specially for the sale. But these terrors are outweighed by the enthusiasm which yesterday morning laid naked a stand of five hundred ten shilling skirts in an hour and a half, or carried off by lunch-time two hundred and fifty duffle coats at twenty-five shillings each.

For Rocking

One of the sensations of the sale has been the “rock ‘n’ roll coat,” a long double-breasted tube of wool with pearl buttons, which the manageress of one store assured me is designed to prevent the dress from flying up as the wearer rocks and rolls, presumably in the snowy fields.

The rock ‘n’ roll coat has been reduced from £7 10s to five guineas. A woman’s suit at the same price is down to two guineas, and a grosgrain suit at twelve guineas disappeared for a pound. One big store is selling cocktail frocks and evening dresses which normally cost fifteen guineas for £2 or £3. Anything from 20 per cent upwards has been deducted from the prices of skirts. A hazy estimate in the early part of the evening was that the sale of coats had doubled and the sale of suits tripled the corresponding figures for last year. Even suits made for spring, 1957, are coming on to the counters.

By last night, one store had sold its entire stock of dresses and coats, This was foreseen by the density of the first rush, and at 10 30 a.m. the shop’s buyer in London was telephoned. The results of his day’s work came up by train, arriving at about 10 p.m.; they were taken to the shop by taxicab, ticketed with a marked down-price, and by mid-night arranged on the rails for this morning sacrifice.

Many firms adopt the practice of clearing the surplus of their country branches through these city sales; others are already hunting through the resources of the great manufacturers, the branded names. Meanwhile the members of the staff snatch their meals when they can, and the great ground-baiting operation continues.

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