Edgars & Truworths: "...London Bridges Falling Down..."

Isabel, my twenty year old sister loves clothes, and shopping for them, especially with my mother. In the early 2000s, they would frequent Westgate, every Saturday morning, just to visit Egdars and Truworths. In a month, they would buy at least twice from both stores, considering their brilliant credit facilities then. This has however changed in recent years. They have migrated to the “Ximex, Eastgate” surroundings. The shopping culture is still there, but has diversified into other apparel never imagined by their first love Edgars, surnamed Truworths. Isabel has been swept off her feet by the Romeo of Zimbabwean Urban Gear, Alcatraz.

I spoke to another 22 year old woman, who frequents South Africa for Fashion, and asked her where she would shop for clothing with a mire Z$3bln budget, between Alcatraz and Edgars. She said, “I’d go to Alcatraz, even though they (Edgars) are cheaper. They have old fashion. I only go there to look for formal wear.” Price is not the issue with fashion nowadays, but taste is – flavour, age, publicity, times, and brand. When I asked about Truworths, again she mentioned their formal wear only.

What is happening here? why is a “small” brand like Alcatraz, so “great” in young ladies’ minds, than Edgars Truworths, Zimbabwe’s largest clothing brands? Edgars Truworths offer credit facilities, assuming this will increase sales. Does this still stimulate sales even in an economy with ±80% unemployment?

Edgars used to have a community that every marketer desired to emulate – The Club. The Club was more than a magazine. It was a Catalogue, a Fashion Trendsetter, a Wardrobe Personal Assistant, and News Platform. I remember the days when Isabel would “study” it, and convince mother to go on shopping sprees. We would also attempt the blockbuster, whilst gazing at the latest fashion – according to Edgars. This was a stronghold – our mind, and COMMITMENT. It all abruptly stopped. The Club died, so did Isabel’s interest.

Alcatraz has a handful of outlets, but only “one” popular outlet, the “Angwa Silundika Branch”. Just this cluster of shops is enough to scoop a huge chunk of young spenders of clothing. They have everything. They are slightly on the high price side of life. Most of all, they have confidence; in their CONSUMERS. The Alcatraz brand is well known world over for being a ‘prison’, but in Zimbabwe, it is “the place” to buy fashion.

More and more young people are migrating from “traditional” fashion brands (outlets), because they have just become old fashioned. Truthfully speaking, the only revolution brought in by Edgars, was the Jeans in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Jeans have since become available all over the place, but Edgars is not the only one with “tight” (good) gear. Fashion is no longer just about fashion, as I said earlier. There is more to it now. Edgars Truworths dominance was in our childhood times of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Christmas and special Holiday shopping was a “MUST” for every family. Children nowadays, have dynamic fashion requirements. Our fashion had structure and pattern. Nowadays, the fashion is extremely unstructured and has manifold patterns. We, on one hand, would buy a Shirt, Trouser, Undergarments, and Shoes. King Noel’s, on the other hand, would ask you about the occasion, weather, time of the day, brand, and place of purchase, before you consider buying him anything. Edgars can no longer cope with such a demand, but Alcatraz is.