The concept of a Factory Shop has been around for many years - initially as a perk to employees of manufacturing Companies - with owners and managers viewing it as a cost-effective opportunity to clear slightly substandard and surplus products.
The 1990s saw significant changes - with the biggest shift prompted by the increasing role of accountants in running companies such as M&S.
Accountants quickly identified it as more cost effective to negotiate their way out of keeping slow selling stock in their stores, and became much tighter on policies regarding late deliveries and quality control.
This created all sorts of problems for manufacturers as they became left with quantities of stocks, often perfect, with nowhere to sell them - except, that is, in their own factory shops.
Initially the factory shops were extended to include friends and family of employees and then, gradually, the success of this led to extensions and ultimately relocations, to stand alone sites running as professionally as any high street retail outlet.
As factories only manufactured certain items, it became apparent that more variety was needed in the increasingly popular outlets. Links with other manufacturers were made, leading to an exchange of goods and ultimately a more desirable proposition for the customer - success quickly followed.
Advertising and promotions became commonplace and word of mouth added to the demand for these now very popular Factory Shops, where customers became involved in "the thrill of the chase" to find tremendous bargains.
Imitators naturally followed, in the form of high street discount stores, selling made to order 'bargains', and later still as huge "Factory Villages" where the illusion of traditional factory shopping is cleverly created with last season's stock and purpose made cut price offerings.
Fortunately, there is still a huge demand for the genuine factory shop - with avid fans, group staff and loyal customers enjoying regular visits to ensure that they never miss that special bargain.
