Sainsbury’s to revamp Jeff & Co clothing range

Sainsbury’s is overhauling its Jeff & Co clothing brand, axing nine sub-brands to leave just Essentials, CMT and Navy Blue.

The review of its clothing offering comes as the supermarket unveils an enhanced range of homeware in a bid to boost its 0.6 per cent share of the &£100bn non-food retail market.

The retailer slipped from its position as the UK’s second-largest supermarket (by sales) to third behind Asda earlier this year. It is introducing 3,500 new lines of non-food merchandise including health and beauty products, with more planned for early next year. The homeware and health and beauty ranges will each be given their own new-look sections in store.

Sainsbury’s trading director for non-foods Keith Evans says: “We’re not the first to market, but I think we have a massive opportunity if we can do non-food in a way that differentiates us.”

He admits that Sainsbury’s is reviewing its clothing range and as part of that, Jeff & Co has been revised: “We have taken some of the sub-brands away because they were confusing customers.”

Instead, the chain will concentrate on offering shoppers an extensive range but within a limited number of clothing lines, with a focus on competitively priced wardrobe basics. This is the first stage of an overhaul of the clothing range that will be finalised next year.

The launch of the non-food range will be supported by a national and local marketing campaign, and with TV advertising featuring chef Jamie Oliver in the run-up to Christmas.