I'm gowin down to Matalands! (Matalan)

Member Name: Claribella

Product:	Matalan
Date:	10/02/09 (121 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap and good qualty

Disadvantages: Queues

I live in Plymouth and for those of you that don't know, we have a funny accent down here. It sounds a bit like the local farmer and not only is our accent strange, we also change certain words to suit us. When Matalan opened in our area it was renamed 'Matalands' by the locals and it has stuck. No one understands what you are talking about if you call it 'Matalan'. I myself am a 'Janner' through and through, I'm like the 'Cream of the crop' when it comes to 'Jannerism' whereas my hubby has quite a well spoken father so although he sounds a little 'Janner', he would never change the way a word is written. When we first met and I told him I was going to go to 'Matalands' to see if I could pick up a 'Bargin' he fell about on the floor laughing. He did a similar thing when I said I'd like 'Salid' with my chips and I enjoy 'Carrits' with a roast dinner. I don't see where the joke is but when I did a search on this site for 'Matalands' it returned 0 products so I had to write in this box instead.

What does it sell?
Matalan(ds) is a huge clothes shop which caters for men, woman and children. They also have a really good homeware department and at my local shop they have a party section too. All the stuff is at a really good price and I would say it's just a little bit more expensive than Primark but a lot more organised and much better quality.

My experience.
I've used Matalan time and time again and have never failed to be impressed. The clothes that I have bought have lasted ages and doesn't tend to fade or bobble in the first wash like a lot of the stuff from Primark does. I bought a pair of trainers from there once and they lasted me ages which I was surprised at because I walk an awful lot. The underwear sets are really pretty and some of it is what you would expect to find in Marks and Spensors but at a much more satisfying price.

The mens clothes are just as good. My hubby always buys his school suits from there as they are such good quality at such a good price. He spends around £30 for a full suit and pays around £5 for a shirt that will last him a good few terms. I know this isn't particularly long but after spending £30 on a few from Next and finding out that they didn't last any longer we figured that it'll be just as cheap to go back to Matalan and pick up a few every now and again. He also buys his shoes from there and they tend to last him the year.

The homeware is really good quality too and is just as good as something you would find in Derrys or places similar. I bought a few t towels that have washed up really well and were only £3.

I often find that the sales are really good and once picked up a pair of Lee Cooper jeans that were £25 reduced to £12.50.

The shop is really well set out and is very tidy. It's just as modern as places like Next but at a fraction of the price. The changing rooms are always clean and tidy and I always find that there are plenty of staff around to help me when I need it.

Ups.

1) The prices are really good and so is the quality.

2) The customer service is really good and everytime I've had any problems they are happy to exchange.

3) Quite often things are mis-priced so I end up getting to the checkout and finding that somethin is cheaper than I anticipated.

Downs.

1) The queues are humungous everytime I go there. It always puts me off buying anything but to be honest they look worse than what they are. They go down pretty quickly because there are quite alot of staff on quite alot of tills.

2) You need to have a Matalan card to buy stuff. They will issue you with a temporary one but it really annoys when I get half way down the queue and realsie I havent got my card in my purse. I end up havng to get out of the queue and go to customer services to get back in the queue again.

3) The shop is quite big and can fel a bit over whelming sometimes. If I'm going here I really need to be in the mood to shop because there is so much on the shop floor that it can feel like too much sometimes.

Verdict.
If you have to buy a new wardrobe then try and go to your local Matalan. It's full of great stuff and will cost you half the price of other places.

Summary: A great place for clothes and home ware.