Kendall's and Next
In 1981, the company bought womenswear retailer Kendall & Sons for £1.75 million from the retail conglomerate Combined English Stores. This gave Hepworth over 600 shops in British high streets.[12] The intention was to redevelop Kendall's stores as a womenswear chain of shops to complement Hepworth as a chain of menswear stores. Designer Terence Conran was Chairman of Hepworth at that time, and recruited George Davies to work at Kendall's; however, Davies's concept was to create a new chain, called Next, initially by converting Kendall's stores. The first Next shops opened on 12 February 1982, with the Kendall's conversion complete by the end of 1983.[7]
Appointed chief executive in 1984, Davies then converted 50 Hepworth stores to the Next format, extending the range to cover menswear. This allowed the development of mini department stores selling women's and men's clothes. This was added to by the introduction of Next interiors to stores which were deemed in the "right demographical areas." In 1986, Davies moved the group's headquarters from Leeds to Leicester, to be closer to the main garment manufacturers, and the company name was changed to Next plc.[7]
In 1987, the group acquired Combined English Stores and the Grattan catalogue company. Extending first to introduce Next childrenswear, Davies then introduced the Next Directory.[13][14] By 1988, "after seven years of growth, Next had over-expanded suicidally", and "some stores were not bringing in enough to pay the rent".[15] Davies was sacked and the share price fell to 7p.[15] Chairman Sir David Jones accused Davies of being egotistical and taking Next to the verge of bankruptcy.[16] In October 1988, Next sold 433 jewellery stores in the United Kingdom, which principally traded under the Salisburys and Zales brands, to the Ratners Group for US$232 million.[17]
The company bought the youth brand Lipsy in 2008.[18] In autumn 2009, Next launched an online catalogue for the United States offering clothing, shoes and accessories for women, men and children.[19] Next's prices in Ireland attracted criticism in 2009 when the company was one of four retailers accused of failing to pass on exchange rate savings to shoppers in the Republic.[20] In July 2010, a BBC investigation found Next was breaking the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 by billing customers for its delivery costs even if goods were returned within the seven working days.[21] A spokesman for Next admitted that they had been doing this for three years but promised to comply by August 2010.[21] Trading Standards said that the DSRs had been in force for ten years, and there was no excuse for not adhering to them.[21]
