Fashion retail chains step up to the plate

With a glitzy awards night scheduled for November 28 at Sydney's Doltone House, the countdown to discover the 2007 Ragtrader Fashion Retailer of the Year is underway.

An impressive array of fashion chains have already made their way into the award finals. High recall names including womenswear label Review, denim and casualwear specialist Just Jeans, women's, men's and lifestyle retailer Country Road, female fashion brand Portmans, European style label Esprit, streetwear player General Pants, menswear retailer Tarocash and womenswear specialists David Lawrence and Jigsaw will be pitted against each other to take out the prize for the large chains category.

Meanwhile joining the fray in the small chains class are streetwear label Edge, womenswear stalwart Feathers, sleepwear king Peter Alexander and bridalwear aficionados Calabro.

Chains judges Zoe Edquist - general manager of the Australian Fashion Council and Belinda Smart - Ragtrader Melbourne correspondent will utilise strict criteria including store design and layout, customer service, employee training and business and operational systems - to make their final assessment.

Just Group managing director Jason Murray said the awards were a drawcard for retailers seeking excellence across all areas of their business,

"Not only are the awards specific to fashion retail but they are also the only ones to look at the whole business of fashion retailing rather than solely focusing on what you see when you walk into a store," he said.
Tickets for the awards night are available from ragtrader.com.au