Matalan
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|
| Privately held company | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | Preston (1985) |
| Headquarters | Knowsley |
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Key people
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John Hargreaves, founder and Chairman |
| Products | Clothing, Homeware |
| Revenue |
 £1,100 million GBP (2013) |
| Website | www.matalan.co.uk |
Matalan is a British fashion and homeware retailer based in Knowsley, United Kingdom. In 1985, it was established by John Hargreaves. Matalan have 217 stores across the United Kingdom. The current managing director of Matalan is Jason Hargreaves.
Matalan's stores average 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2). The majority of Matalan's stores are based in out of town locations, based upon a concept that John Hargreaves discovered was successful in America, and that he launched in Preston in 1985. Each store is typically divided into four departments, Women's, Men's, Kids' and Homeware.
In 2010, the potential buyout of Matalan fell through after the companies interested could not meet the £1.5 billion price tag placed on the company by Hargreaves. An offer of £1.3 billion was rumoured to have been rejected. Following the breakdown in any buyout, plans were made by Hargreaves to invest more money into the Matalan brand. As well as investment into the stores in the United Kingdom, plans are in place to open a further 5/6 stores in Scotland and plans are also in place about the possibility of opening Matalan stores outside of the United Kingdom.
Matalan has been awarded for the third time with the Gold award at the Mumsnet Family Friendly awards. [1]
A card system is used within its stores. As the years went on they changed the system so that anyone could join and get a Matalan card for £1. In 2003, Matalan removed the £1 charge for the card, and the card is now free and no longer needed to process transactions.
The card acts as an incentive to customers by offering them:
In 2006, Matalan trialed a reward scheme using points on the Matalan card in Scottish stores. At the same time, a keyfob was introduced as an alternative to the card, similar to Tesco Clubcard. However Matalan did not roll out this scheme to the rest of the stores, and concentrated on offering more to the customer in store.
In 2014, Matalan launched a mobile reward card app, allowing customers to register using their existing card number or registering online.
During 2007, Matalan began to trial an in-store café concept, to attract more customers into stores. M Cafe's menu was based around healthy options, selling food and drinks with little or no sugar. The cafe itself was based around the shape of a coffee bean, with dark brown and stainless steel fittings creating a contemporary setting.
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