UK: Peacocks Introduces Price-Cutting Strategy

Family retailer, Peacocks, has armed itself with another weapon in the fierce fight to gain supremacy in the fast-growing UK discount clothing market. Peacocks, whose competitors include Matalan and New Look, has cut prices on 70 lines by 10 per cent to further boost sales, creating a festive price war in the lower end of the market. A spokesman for Peacocks said the company had closely monitored what competitors like Matalan were doing and taken the decision to lower prices further. "Peacocks likes to be the best value in the market," the spokesman added. The company looks like it is well on its way to fulfilling its mission to "become the most successful value-for-money clothing retailer in the country, offering great customer service in a friendly, family environment." Peacocks recently announced that total sales were up 21 per cent to £106.9m for the 26 weeks to September 30 and profit before tax was also up to 38 per cent to £4.6m. It also announced that it was on track to open 35 to 40 stores in the current year. Chairman, John Lovering, said in a recent statement: "Peacocks has continued to make strong progress in the first half of the year. We have achieved good organic growth with 13 new stores opened and trading above plan and enter the important second half of the year with trading momentum: like-for-like sales are five per cent ahead for the five weeks to 4 November 2000. "In addition, we have progressed a series of initiatives to build sales through complementary distribution channels. These include our supply agreement with Kingfisher's `Big W' concept and a trial to introduce our clothing and footwear ranges into Woolworths high street stores."