High street name falls out of fashion
THE high street was dealt another blow after women's fashion chain Jane Norman went into administration, the latest casualty in a grim year for retailers.
The company closed its 89 UK stores, including 16 in Scotland, over the weekend after it failed to find a buyer for the business.

The closure will put up to 1,600 jobs at risk, including those at its branches in Scotland - five in Glasgow, two in Edinburgh, two in Aberdeen, and one in Ayr, Dundee, East Kilbride, Inverness, Livingston, Perth and Stirling.

Accountancy firm Zolfo Cooper has been appointed as administrator and is attempting to find a buyer for the company saddled with a £140 million debt and which has been struggling with depressed sales.

The Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Debenhams are among those linked with takeover bids.

The clothing firm, aimed at 16-25 year olds and offering "a high street take on catwalk fashion", has also faced strong competition from retailers such as Primark and Top Shop.

Last night retail experts said a "crowded high street" and internet shops were partly to blame for chains such as Jane Norman closing down.

Andrew Turnbull, a retail expert at the Aberdeen Business School at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, said that while Jane Norman had suffered as a result of the second "cull" of high street shops, a different high street could emerge in about five years.

"Jane Norman falls into the group of retailers which didn't appear to understand the market and what customers want," he said.

"Unless you have something which differentiates you, even just a brand name to offer up as kudos or a status symbol, you aren't going to survive, especially in fashion.

"It was facing strong competition from retailers such as Primark who are in the ascendancy following a low price strategy and also from online stores.

"However, while we are now into stage two of the cull of the high street and the retail fall-out is most certainly a measure of the state of the economy, it is not all doom and gloom.

"We are forever hearing about the multiples such as Tesco and Sainsbury's taking over the high street, but we are also seeing new developments.

"One is a distinct spirit of entrepreneurship, which has never been greater, generated in part by programmes such as Dragon's Den and The Apprentice with Lord Sugar. Another is that the idea of business as a career is increasingly being promoted within universities, making students aware of how it all works."