Halloween High Jinks Pound Shop Wars

The question I get asked most in here is, "How much is this?"

How much is this?

That is the truth!

How much are these chamois?

There are shops which promise to leave customers quids in.

It must cost more to make it than what they're selling it for.

How they do it, I'll never know.

And they've put many of us under a spell.

That's £1!

I think it's great.

We're always in pound shops.

I like a bargain.

But not everyone's crazy about the pound shop invasion.

They're popping up everywhere.

It's a con.

With the pound shops,

we're all going to need hard hats before long, just to make a living.

For the boss of Poundworld,

it's a cut-price, cut-throat battle for the £1 crown.

We come to work every day gumshield in, shinpads on. Get on with it.

This time...

Cool man, cool.

..boss Chris gambles on a monster Halloween order.

There's a reason why he doesn't make it a two-fingered hand!

It's all-out war in Wales,

as Swansea and Cardiff battle to make a killing.

I think it's awesome!

And Chris' new sales promotion could leave his stores dead and buried.

The British shoppers are being conned.

To me, the phrase "the customer is always right" never applies.

I don't care where I've worked! No, no, it's not!

In Swansea's Poundworld, Assistant Manager Andrea runs a tight ship.

Horrendous.

You'll find a bottle of bleach in the grocery.

They're terrible for doing that.

Yeah, there we are. There's an ideal example there for you now.

Compared to bustling city centre stores,

this retail park branch gets far fewer customers

to mess up Andrea's pristine shelves.

Oh, my god, I'm only little!

But, once they're through the door,

they're often happy to splash the cash.

£29 then, please.

Thank you.

-Ta-ra!

-Ta-ra.

Regional Manager Dave Evans is in charge of dozens of stores,

but it's pretty clear which is his favourite.

Swansea is one of the best stores we've had,

certainly in my area and region.

If I had all my stores looking like this,

I would be a very, very happy man.

It's a different story just 40 miles away in Cardiff.

Seven weeks ago, CEO Chris Edwards opened one of his most expensive

branches in the middle of an upmarket shopping centre.

It was a big decision to come in here and pay the rent.

We put ourselves under pressure, but I think we'll get there.

With its prime location,

the store opened with a big fanfare, and even bigger expectations.

I declare Poundworld open!

CHEERING

Please come in.

But, as the excitement of the grand opening has slipped away,

so too have manager Duncan's sales.

From the first week or so, it was brilliant.

It has died down, I've got to be honest.

The footfall is massive.

We're having like, between 1,300 and 1,500 customers a day.

The problem is they're not spending what I'd like them to spend.

Disappointing.

My job is to make more money and take more money off our competitors,

and we're not making as much money as we should be.

That's the thing that keeps me up in the middle of the night.

And a two-year-old.

The boost Duncan needs could be on the horizon.

One tried and tested way of increasing profits

is to make the most of seasonal sales, like Easter and Christmas.

OK.

And the season growing faster than any other...

Wa-ha-ha!

..is Halloween.

All this for £2!

In the pound shop HQ, the merchandising team has invited

boss Chris to check out this year's products.

Cool man, cool.

Yeah, thanks.

When did you model for that?

I think it was last February.

With 500 different Halloween products,

it's their biggest range ever.

One of the best performing lines year on year.

I'll have one of them on my door, without doubt.

For years, it's been massive in America, and years and years ago

we used to sell fireworks, and that seems to have dried up a bit.

Halloween's took over, but now it's gone to Christmas sale proportions.

To pull in as many punters as possible, the in-house design team

has come up with some fancy new family-friendly branding.

We knew we wanted it to be fun,

it's like looking at the scary aspects of Halloween,

but underneath there's a much more friendly tone.

This is Frank and he is sort of our Halloween poster boy,

a bit of a loveable lunatic.

We started, maybe a year and a half ahead,

because we're putting a lot more effort into it this year.

Halloween is six weeks away,

and the new branded range has been rolled out across all the stores.

For ex-market trader Chris,

giving centre stage to fun characters means just one thing.

We create characters cos that creates the sales.

Especially multi-sales - people having a party,

they're going to buy cups, plates, decorations.

I mean, we don't just get a £1 sale out of this,

it can be a fiver's worth, a tenner's worth, 20 quid's worth.

MALE CHOIR SINGS

Welsh cities Swansea and Cardiff

have a long standing tradition of rivalry,

and Regional Manager Dave brings the battle to the shop floor,

with a Halloween competition.

I want to see if Swansea are better than Cardiff,

with regards to sales with Halloween.

So it's Cardiff v Swansea live at Poundworld!

The store that takes the most money through Halloween wins.

I think they've got an unfair advantage.

Why?

Because they model most of the clothing out there

because they're a pair of witches down there anyway.

LAUGHTER

This store, being my newest store at the moment,

against my best store in the area,

that will be interesting.

The competition is there definitely.

It's just a Swansea/Cardiff thing,

there's just no love lost, I think, so bring it on!

Bring it on!

With city pride at stake,

Duncan is confident a certain type of Cardiff local

will help him bury the competition.

We've got a lot of students, a lot of parties.

I think we'll crucify them, to be honest.

I think they haven't got a prayer.

It's not just seasonal sales that can boost profits.

For the past few years, Chris's pound shops have been selling

manager's specials - one or two items that cost more than £1.

The latest must-have product is dancing water speakers.

Exactly what dancing water speakers are,

I've actually no idea at this point.

This one is actually broke.

At £14.99, they're almost 15 times more than his other products.

Have you seen these before?

You plug them into your laptop, or something, or whatever.

But he's struggling to get to grips with the high-end tech.

Right, let's see what we've got here then.

GENTLE PIANO MUSIC PLAYS

I think we need a bit beatier music.

-You need something with a bit of...

-Right, rock.

MUSIC: Crazy by Gnarls Barkley

# But it wasn't because I didn't know enough... #

Well, I suppose it's whatever turns you on.

They're different anyway!

Manager's specials come in all shapes and sizes.

They're a big money-spinner for Chris.

This is one item we ran for a couple of years,

particularly at Christmas time, we call it a blossom tree.

It retails at £24.99.

The loom bands, that's become very, very popular.

This is a mobile phone that comes with all the normal accessories

and we'll be retailing that at £9.99.

When we decided to put the manager's specials in, obviously

we thought about it because if you retail everything at £1,

how can you put something that is in excess of £1?

We were a little bit apprehensive.

But everything has been good.

Long may it continue, cos we're getting fantastic sales from it.

In South Wales, the battle for Halloween is in full swing.

Does this stick to the window?

Two weeks in, Swansea's sales are booming.

Lovely, thank you very much.

Being on a retail park may mean fewer customers,

but they've been buying early and buying big.

We're lucky, we've got a lot more space.

I've got double what Cardiff have got,

so we can put double the stock out then.

This is one of the biggest pound shops in the UK, and

Manager Paula is making sure every inch gets the Halloween treatment.

This was our summer ball pit,

so I've utilised this now for all our candy holders and pumpkins,

and then I've changed all the front -

every clip strip has been changed now to Halloween.

Come on, just bring him...

And they have another trick or treat up their sleeve.

RAUCOUS LAUGHTER

You'll be dressed up in a corner if you don't shut up.

Come on, get him in.

Chuck that on his head.

Oh, that makes an improvement.

SHE CACKLES

Competition. We love competition.

I think it's awesome.

In Cardiff, Duncan hasn't got the luxury of extra space,

but he has got the city's 66,000 students.

This needs to be full.

We've got a lot of opportunity here,

a lot of opportunity.

Many of these freshers have just received their student loans,

and tonight the shopping centre is holding a student-only

late night event, with discounts of up to 50%.

Duncan is counting on them spending big in his shop.

He's hoping for monster queues for his monster products.

Right, guys, I can't stress enough,

Halloween is going to be a big part of tonight.

You've got to make sure, right the way through the night,

this is kept full, it's kept faced.

Let's start pushing ourselves.

Get in conversations with them.

If they're having parties...

"If you have fresher parties, if you're going fancy dress,

"have a look at our Halloween stock, we'll show you..." Blah, blah.

Duncan is gambling his entire weekly overtime budget

on tonight's event being a success.

It's make-or-break time, you know.

We've got a lot of staff in and if we don't take the money

to back that up, you know, we're going to look a bit silly,

but there's some big queues building up out there

so hopefully they'll all come in to Poundworld.

-CROWD:

-Five, four, three, two, one!

CHEERING

Everything £1, girls!

Apparently, there was 6,000 just at the doors there,

they've all just run straight past.

They ran straight past us.

I think they're going to run down the other side of the centre,

where all the designer shops are, they're going to get their bargains,

and we'll have them on the way back.

With more expensive shops slashing prices in half,

this is one night where the Pound might have lost its pull.

Disappointed is not the word at the moment.

Really gutted, really gutted.

It's just not working, is it? So...

Out of the 28,000 students going past,

a total of six make it into the shop.

All chocolates.

Actually I am a chocoholic, I love chocolates.

None of them buy any Halloween products.

It's like everything else in life, you've got to take a gamble,

and we did and we lost.

Cardiff's chances of beating Swansea are looking slim,

but for every cloud there's a silver lining.

To be honest, I don't really like hard selling or anything like that,

but luckily I haven't got to do it, because no-one's come in.

At HQ, the Halloween juggernaut is taking over.

Every day, 40,000 spooky products go out of these doors,

and if they don't sell, they'll come straight back in again.

There we go. Would you buy that for a quid?

These are chicken feathers.

These have to go through very stringent tests.

It's Billy Singh's job to find new ways to sell products for £1,

and still make a profit for his boss, Chris.

When we first bought this hand, it was a five-fingered hand.

It actually wasn't feasible for £1 retail,

so what we decided to do was actually take a finger off.

And of course taking off a finger, first of all it's Halloween,

so a finger missing looks good and looks a bit more gruesome,

but taking off that finger saves another couple of pence,

which is what our profit is,

and hence it ended up as a four-fingered bloody hand.

There's a reason why he doesn't make it a two-fingered hand.

Yeah, possibly!

Chris has made his reputation by keeping one simple rule.

"Everything £1."

Well, almost everything!

Yeah, we've got this one here at this moment in time,

which is dancing water speakers above all things, you know! £14.99.

In Burnley, management team Geoff and Ian

like to get to know their products.

-I guess it's like a mini disco.

-Would you buy it?

-I don't know, I guess.

-Would you buy this, Donna?

-You'd have to set it up for me.

-No.

But higher priced items create higher expectations.

A woman wants to bring back some speakers.

She wants a refund on them, she said they don't work.

Is there any way we can try them?

No, right.

Even the colours are totally different from what's displayed.

I've never seen one fired up, so I can't really comment.

The other thing is, when you turn the music up,

it doesn't go to the beat, it works on the vibration.

This is part and parcel of one of the problems

of when you sell an expensive item like this.

Argos and places like Currys and PC World,

they'll already have a system in place -

"OK, we'll give you a new one, or whatever," you know?

It's not like doing a refund on a packet of mints

-or a packet of crisps, it's like £15.

-Yeah.

Dealing with refunds isn't the only headache

the Manager's Specials are causing.

Everybody thinks it's going to be £1, don't they?

So I think it's wrong.

The British shoppers are being conned.

It's a pound shop, so why should it be £9.99 in a pound shop?

Oh, no. Oh, right! I thought it said it were £1!

Those speakers there are £15, OK? It's a con.

The sign says everything is £1.

For some customers, venting their anger in store is not enough.

We went into Poundworld.

Lo and behold, there was a nice LED Christmas tree.

I thought, "I'll have one of them for £1."

They were £24.99.

Steve was so enraged,

he took his complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority.

Stores need to get it right.

When their strapline for their business is "Everything £1"...

That's why they're called Poundworld.

All Chris's shops have signage claiming "Everything £1".

Stocking one or two extra products which cost much more

is a decision that could come back to haunt him.

Halloween has finally arrived,

and the residents of Cardiff are busy shopping for a big night out.

We can dress people from head to toe, starting from your fangs,

your blood, a severed head you can carry.

Claude Lewis runs the biggest fancy dress shop in South Wales.

The real popular one this year what everybody's going,

is the Ebola costume, or the Breaking Bad costume.

It's in bad taste but it's really popular.

Have a good day, cheers.

For us, as a fancy dress store, it's one of the biggest seasons,

it's bigger than Christmas.

Let's just put it this way.

Halloween helps us survive the rest of the year.

But surviving is getting harder.

Many of Claude's bestselling accessories

are much cheaper in the pound shops.

I had a little browse in the pound store.

It's good to know what people are doing.

On certain lines, we've got to reduce the price

to make sure we are competitive.

The thing with the pound store, they've got good buying power,

we haven't got that buying power.

Lots of Claude's customers are students

buying for Halloween parties.

I think I'm going to go as like, a zombie Baywatch lifeguard.

Little red shorts, flip-flops,

whistle, and then just like zombie make-up.

I'm going to the pound shop to get my make-up

because it's £1, and it's cheaper than here.

Cardiff's Poundworld is just five minutes away,

and Duncan is hoping plenty of savvy shoppers are heading his way.

HE SCREAMS

She's blue!

Nice Dunc, nice.

Look sexy, mate, look sexy!

The end is nigh for the South Wales competition.

Just one last chance to try and make a killing.

Not quite what I would buy,

it's not gothy enough.

There you are.

Not too heavy, see.

That's good, I'll take one of those as well.

Bargain hunter Kay has made the trip from the nearby town of Barry.

Excellent.

Yes, definitely a spider.

We're having a quiz in our street for friends and neighbours.

We thought, "Well, why not just sort of push the boat out

"and have a party as well?"

Well, the kids enjoy themselves, why can't we?

Shock pop eyes, they're always good for a laugh.

I like those.

-I don't trust this woman, I can't help that.

-Trust me...

-She don't like me.

-..I'm a doctor.

In Swansea, Andrea's making a final effort to attract as many customers

as possible by making her staff as unattractive as possible.

What colour's pus?

THEY CHUCKLE

-Yellow-y.

-Well, yours is green

SHE LAUGHS

I forgot my horns.

I've had to put my boxer shorts on.

See at the back.

Get behind the car and get them off and roll round in the mud.

Andrea's attention to detail has reached new levels.

It's a bit too clean.

Apparently, real zombies wear muddy trousers.

That's better, man.

But despite all the Swansea staff doing their bit,

Halloween sales have been slower this week.

That's £6 altogether, can I offer you any sweets today for a pound?

I think it'll be close.

I hope I'm wrong and we've whipped his backside.

-Do you need a bag?

-No, thank you.

With much more passing trade,

Duncan's store has pulled in hundreds of last minute shoppers.

Yes! Oh, my God!

What about one of these?

I wish we'd bought more in the other shop yesterday,

but we didn't realise that Daddy had lost the fake blood.

I've just finished work, been running around like mad.

-Any sweets for a pound?

-Go for it.

Duncan has still got his eye on the prize.

Can I help anybody at all?

Are you going to a Halloween party by any chance?

-Yes, we are.

-You are, so it's a panic buy?

We just left it until the last day and it's just not that convenient.

That's £4.

-Do you want a bag?

-No, thank you.

As the competition ends, the staff have an agonising wait

to see who will be crowned

Best Halloween Pound Shop in South Wales.

For their customers, it's time to blow on the cobwebs

and start to party.

I'm not sure about this.

I thought it was cute, it's like those police...

-Yes, it's...

-..thingys.

Kay's back in Barry after bagging her bargains,

and is all set for her spooky quiz night.

One of the Addams Family can help me here!

-It' looks amazing.

-Oh, wow!

I wanted to look as hideous as possible

and I think I've succeeded.

Chris's plan to generate multiple sales seems to have worked.

Well, as you can see, I think for the pound shop it's amazing,

and I think we've got a very good effect in here.

Right, are we all ready?

Right. Number one, are pumpkins fruits or vegetables?

OWL HOOTS

Chris's Halloween range has been a big success,

but he's facing a backlash against his higher priced products.

Rival Poundland has already had its wrists slapped for flogging £2 DVDs.

Now Chris's Manager's Specials are in the dock.

The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled

that Poundworld's "Everything £1" claim is misleading.

It's a ruling that threatens all of Chris's branding,

in store and online.

Some people must have nothing better else to do.

Ten to five in the morning,

somebody's put on Twitter, "Mm, a good pounding from ASA."

I mean I like the way he's done that, "A good POUNDing,"

but ten to five in the morning. Either he can't sleep, or...

Well, that's up to Chris and his lawyers.

I mean, what's he going to do, change the sign?

"Almost a pound"?

You can't put "Everything a pound...

"and £3.99 and £8.99."

No, no, no. The sign would be like a mile long, Geoff.

It's short and simple, Poundworld, "Everything £1."

I wonder what would happen if Chris decided to say, "Everything £1...

"..and over."

-It's a thought.

-Mm.

Chris isn't keen on "Everything A Pound And Over World",

and he has no intention of withdrawing

his Manager's Specials either.

We don't try and deceive, everything is a pound and we just have

possibly two or three, that's what we call a Manager's Special,

quite clearly marked and we've had some adverse comments

because people walk in, saying, "I expect to buy that for a pound".

Well, you know, we're not insulting nobody's intelligence

when it's quite clearly marked it's not a pound.

That's how it is in every single store.

Absolutely right, yeah, we daren't just put it in a pound thing like,

you'd have to be loony to do that.

Yeah, because then you see you've got to honour that deal at the till.

Chris has been asked to remove "Everything £1" from his website

and any leaflets but, for now, his shop signage is safe.

We can sell thousands of something and three people make a complaint

then we're deemed to be doing something wrong and yet the

other thousands of people are more than happy with what they've bought.

I cannot see how any government body would think

we're trying to deceive, cos we're not.

Bye.

For the past six weeks, rival stores Swansea and Cardiff

have been battling it out over their Halloween sales.

Today, regional manager Dave has the results.

Right then, team...

It was a lot closer than I thought it would be.

The winner of the South Wales...

..Halloween competition 2014 goes to...

..Cardiff, St David's.

Oh, my God, I'm going to quit.

THEY LAUGH

-Um...

-Well done, Mr Tiller!

-Thank you.

I think we should have a recount. Who done the figures?

Out of the seven weeks, Swansea were leading five times.

All part of the plan, all part of the plan.

The last week, you lost it majorly.

Oh, my God. Are you sure those figures are right?

I double, triple, quadruple,

I even tried to fudge the figures and it just didn't work.

Swansea, they've got experienced staff,

they've done these set-ups before.

I didn't think Cardiff would win.

They managed to pull it out of the bag on the last week,

so well done to them, it was a very close call.

I'm gutted we lost, we lost to him as well.

It could have been anybody else.

-BOTH:

-Anybody!

I just want to shake your hand a minute and say, "Well done."

-I'm going to whack him in the face now.

-Shake my hand.

-Go away!

-I'll see you later.

Five times, Duncan, five times.

Oh, my God.

Next time...

I'd rather not have the hairy arms sticking out if that's all right.

It's north versus south as Yorkshire's finest

invade their rivals' back yard.

They're all going to be selling exactly the same stuff,

so what's the point?

And Chris flies in to face a shopper backlash.

Bryan, are you a fan of these pound stores?

No, I am afraid I'm not, I think that they should be banned.