Far From A Retail Heaven (Evans)

Member Name: kitschkitty

Product:	Evans
Date:	11/12/08 (144 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice range of wide fitting shoes

Disadvantages: Poor range and quality of clothes and high prices.

Evans used to be a favourite shop of mine back in my student days. Partly because I was larger back then and it was one of the few shops where I could buy clothes that fit and partly because I was given a rather generous credit limit on an account card which meant I racked up quite a considerable debt without thinking twice about what I was buying. Now I've lost a lot of weight, I do still venture into Evans as it's the only shop that sells a decent and fashionable range of wide fitting shoes at reasonable prices. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the range of clothes.

Evans is part of the Arcadia group and so is a sister store to Dorothy Perkins. This means that a lot of the basic clothes such as office wear and plain knitwear seem to be almost identical in both shops. The only difference is the extortionate prices Evans charge for the same clothes that are available in Dorothy Perkins. It seems to me that they're taking advantage of their position as the leading high street clothes shop for plus sized women. Of course, this means that if you're at the lower end of the Evans size range, you'd probably be best advised to shop in Dorothy Perkins where you can get identical items in some cases for far lower prices.

In my experience, unless you venture into a city branch of Evans, the stores are quite small. The rage of clothes isn't extensive and I've noticed their stock seems to be becoming more and more frumpy in appearance. The quality is also lacking and I've often seen similar items in Primark for a fraction of the pries Evans charge. Obviously the range does vary throughout the year and Christmas does bring some more modern additions to the Evans wardrobe with plenty of sparkly and sequined tops for Christmas. But I'm still dubious as to the quality and, even with the recent 20% discount days, the prices are still beyond my budget.

On the plus side (no pun intended), the shoes are great if you struggle to find wide fitting footwear. They also stock a wide range of boots which have larger leg fittings. I nearly always buy my shoes in Evans and have nearly always been impressed with the comfort and quality of the shoes available. The prices for footwear seem to be average for the high street so at least this is one area where Evans don't feel the need to take advantage of their customers.

I've also found the staff in Evans to all be particularly friendly and helpful. It may sound clichéd to say that but I do genuinely believe that a lot of the staff I've encountered in Evans have been keen to go the extra mile and also make a great sounding board if you're shopping alone and need another person's opinion. The changing rooms also seem to be more spacious than many other shops although I'm sure they use slimming mirrors which is great when you're trying clothes on but can turn into quite a disappointment when you get home!

Evans did used to offer a 10% discount for NHS workers but that has recently been stopped and no member of staff has been able to offer me an explanation as to why. This has come as a big disappointment to me since I'm not a fan of paying full price so I will have to scour the sale sections if I need any new shoes from now on.


I think Evans is quickly losing it's monopoly of the plus size market with more and more high street shops stocking clothes in a wider variety of sizes. Even Tesco now offer plus sized clothes at bargain prices. I hope Evans re-evaluates its current marketing strategies and improves the quality of clothes as well as reducing some of their prices. My feet really don't want to see another high street shop go up in smoke as they've spent far too many years being crammed into tight shoes and they're loving the freedom of a sexy wide fitting court shoe from Evans.

Summary: Changes need to be made if Evans plans to stay afloat.