I stopped into TK Maxx (TJ Maxx for Americans) tonite. It had been a while. My how things have changed. Time was TK Maxx had good gear with brand names for half or less what the High Street did; it provided value for money for fashion conscious shoppers who wanted the look but didn’t have the wallet. All that has changed.

I didn’t twig till I heard a woman shopping with a couple of blokes who said, “Oh you don’t want that - that’s very Primark!” The bloke, a bit embarrassed, fluffed it by saying, “But I like Primark!” Sigh…

You see this is in no way a post to put down Primark; much the opposite in fact!

Prior to the conversation I had been looking at some childrens clothes which were marginally trendy, if a bit last year, but priced at double or treble what I would expect to spend on my (now) four year old for the same item across the car park in Mothercare. Hmmm, someone in the buying and merchandising department hasn’t been paying attention. Nevermind losing millions of customer credit card details, customers will forgive that as long as the bargains are there. Try to charge a premium on mediocre kids clothes, though, and you’re toast! And they weren’t great. Maybe some council estate mum might think they’re the trendiest thing since the newest Burberry knock-offs but these weren’t great shakes.

A quick swing through the menswear after the conversation and the reality started to become clearer. Yes these were brand names, albeit B-list brand names (Fila, K-swiss, Nike… I mean, please - Nike???) and going for £30 - £35 a garment (sportshirts, trousers, shorts) but they’re not the sort of things you’ll see down the sportswear shop tomorrow. No these are cast-offs, last season and “didn’t sell” stock. It’s not great stuff. But at the price, maybe it is a discount from the sports shop but if I’m going to help a multi-million pound brand do its advertising it’s not going to be with second rate rubbish like I saw tonight (or I’ll have it for less than a tenner, thanks very much!).

No this is the 21st century and the fashion conscious choose to wear discretely tagged gear (so that you have to look, or just know) or don’t wear logos at all. Only chavs sport their mile-high logos nowadays.

But it’s a shame. I still have a Peter Reiss suit I bought ten years ago at TK Maxx and it’s still a quality item. I’ve wonderful French Connection T-shirt (sadly hand-wash only) and a lovely Pierre Cardin shirt that I still wear regularly in wintertime, but these were all heroic bargains, they don’t show their logo and are top quality. Nowadays I can, and do, get much, much better quality in everyday staple items in Primark and Tesco and they cost around a tenner. They take a bit of looking, trying on and discarding of the “unfit” but the jewels that are epic bargains are there to be had. So with sadness I’ve gotta say TK Maxx has had its day and it was a little while ago. This, combined with the losing-customers-credit-details means I recommend a short-sell on TJX shares. The management has lost its mojo and customers are just about to realise this and spank them something awful.