Women wonder why they can't buy maternity clothes in Scunthorpe town centre
A mother-to-be has criticised the lack of provision of maternity wear available to pregnant shoppers in Scunthorpe town centre.
Beth Hewitt, 35, visited more than 10 retailers in Scunthorpe, only to find that none of them stock maternity wear.
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Beth Hewitt has complained about the lack of maternity wear available on Scunthorpe High Street
She said that the lack of provision could provide a local independent business the chance to exploit the gap in the market.
Beth said: "I felt excluded by the fact I am pregnant.
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"I spent approximately £120 on a few casual items I urgently needed to simply make me comfortable over the next few days and weeks as I have been unable to find anything else. I would love to spend more but felt there was nothing out there for me and apparently no-one wanted my money enough.
"Surely in a recession businesses should be proactively meeting the needs of their target and captive audiences?"
Mrs Hewitt said she had spoken to a number of other pregnant women who said they had to travel to neighbouring towns to buy maternity clothing.
During her time shopping in Scunthorpe, she said she found only Matalan stocking maternity wear, but only a limited selection.
She said: "No-one could suggest where I might find maternity wear, and many sales assistants mentioned how poorly serviced the town is for maternity wear, despite a growing population."
Mrs Hewitt said she was put off by the internet as a source of shopping because of the postage charges.
She said that she wanted to support the local high street as she believed it to be an important part of the community.
"People will always get pregnant," she said. "People will always need clothes. The demand is here and we are sick of having to endlessly search for what we want or tolerate budget shops with no passion for service or quality.
"I simply want to buy clothes at reasonable prices that fit now.
"I want to enjoy the experience of shopping for my bump, of entering a shop fully stocked and staffed with friendly people who smile and offer meaningful customer care, from people who understand how unattractive pregnancy can make you feel."
A spokeswoman for H&M said: "Our maternity collection is stocked in a selection of stores around the UK.
"The decision of what stores have the collection comes down to space within the store – not every H&M store stocks every H&M collection."
Internacionale, Bon Marche, BHS, Primark and Dorothy Perkins were all unavailable for comment.
Comments
by sisterwendy
Wednesday, September 05 2012, 4:54PM
“Her account was deleted, I'm her evil twin.”
by gordonio
Wednesday, September 05 2012, 4:35PM
“What happened to Wenders comment, at least it was funny?”
by jons27
Wednesday, September 05 2012, 2:48PM
“spending £120 on "a few casual items"??? By heck!!”
by ewbfchamp
Wednesday, September 05 2012, 9:32AM
“Seems to be the norm nowadays for young women to wear trousers and a tee shirt and bare all !”
by lusby
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 9:18PM
“what can i say, i have no reason to buy maternity clothes , but it really says it all about scunthorpe, not alot going for it , it has the potential to be a good vibrant town. bring in two hours free parking , its done brigg the world of good , also get some toilets in the town support your local town helen x”
by buffering
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 8:41PM
“The main problem that I could see for an independant retailer is that to make a name for yourself that people come to trust, that you would have to stock products that are of high and reasonable quality, which means that generally speaking, they will also have a high price tag, which in the current climate, people won't want to pay. If they do, then not in numbers high enough to warrant someone doing it.
In this day and age people would rather by very low quality goods several times over than buy a single piece of high quality that will last.”
by Hazzers
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 2:23PM
“There have been shops in Scunthorpe in the past that have catered for pregnant women and others that have dealt in xxx large clothes for the obese but they've been short lived because there's no great demand to make the businesses viable.”
by oatsandbarley
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 1:59PM
“would help if I gave you the address lol bumpstyle.co.uk”
by oatsandbarley
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 1:57PM
“Hi all
especially Beth. We had the same problem, so the girls and I searched the web and eventually came across a web site that seemed to answer our frustrations. Its a link to many of the top high street retailers who specialise in maternity wear, allowing you to look for what you want,compare and then click through to the retailer to purchase.The site doesn't handle the sale at all,So its all safe and easy to use.”