MATALAN

'Matalan' is a discount clothing and homeware store in the United Kingdom. It was founded by John Hargreaves in 1985. It currently has 200 stores across the UK. The 200th store opened on 22nd September 2006 in Croydon. Shares in the company plummeted from 241p to 175p, following the pattern of many retail companies during the 'retail slowdown'. The company's shares are on the rise, and in part due to rumours that Asda or Tesco might make a takeover bid, though neither company has publicly acknowledged any such plan. In 2002, the company took over the long established Wolsey Company, which has been trading since 1755. In July 2006, sales in the company rose for the first time in months due to highly successful product lines in the World Cup season. However, this success was shrouded by intense boardroom activity over John Hargreaves' plan to buy back all of Matalan's shares.
The current Chief Executive at Matalan is John King. He has announced his intention to leave at the end of 2006, to enable him to spend more time with his family in America.

Contents

Team Structure

Stores

Controversy

Notes

External links

Team Structure

Matalan stores have a complex hierarchy in order to exercise efficient operation of day-to-day operations within the store. The individual with overall control of store operations is the store manager. All other line managers report to the store manager on a regular basis seeking advice and approval concerning store operations. In many cases, Store Managers are overseen by a Senior Store Manager who has control over a group of stores. The next person down in the hierarchy is the Deputy Store Manager, who ensures that policy made by the Store Manger is enforced by interacting more directly with staff, customers, and shop floor operations. The next level down in management is Department Manager. Some department managers may control more than one department, depending on how big the store is. The next level down is the Administration Manager who controls the backroom aspect of store operations such as staff rota's, payment, and delivery.
The non-management staff structure also has a hierarchy, with some members of staff enforcing more powers than others. At the top of this chain are the administrators, usually consisting of no more than two members of staff. The next is full time members of staff, allocated to control certain departments or sub-departments of the store. As well as these, members of staff can also advance to positions such as receptionist, head cashier, or cash officer.

Stores

Matalan stores average out at a size of roughly 30,000 square feet, emphasising the space strategy that the company employs. The majority of Matalan stores are based in out of town locations, based upon a concept that John Hargreaves discovered was successful in America, and then decided to launch it in Preston in 1985. However, recently Matalan has been pioneering the idea of their stores being on the high street in Londonderry. Each store is typically divided into four departments, Ladies, Mens, Kids, Home, and many stores have an anchor department which may depend on factors such as location. In May 2007, Matalan will be launching a new 'Partyshop' department at its Preston store.

Controversy

In November 2005, Matalan imposed a unilateral two percent cut on payments to its suppliers. It is one of a series of retailers to do so. Suppliers have threatened legal action.^[1] Matalan has also been criticised for exploiting workers in the pursuit of cheap prices.^[2]
In 2007, Matalan became engaged in a widespread job cutting action across the entiritey of its distribution sector. This was thought to be a move aimed at cutting costs as store sales flagged dramatically. Many employees in the distribution sector of the company chose voluntary redundancy.

Notes

1. ''Suppliers threaten to take Matalan to trading standards'', Julia Finch, The Guardian Online, May 6 2006. ''Page retrieved 3 November 2006''
2. ''Who Pays for Cheap Clothes? 5 questions the low cost retailers must answer'', Labour Behind the Label, July 2006. ''Page retrieved 3 November 2006.''

External links

★ Official website