Asda grabs M&S sales crown

ASDA has overtaken Marks & Spencer as Britain's largest clothing retailer, underlining the decline of one of the most powerful brands on the High Street.

The news will be a huge blow to recently appointed M&S chief executive Stuart Rose, who is under pressure to turn around the troubled chain.

Confidential figures show that over the past three months, Asda's market share - measured by the amount of clothes sold - has risen by almost a third to 9.4%, passing M&S, which has remained static at 9.1%.

M&S, once a national icon, has been haemorrhaging market share in clothing for years. Despite a shake up of suppliers and improvements in buying and sourcing by previous chief executive Roger Holmes, the chain has been unable to halt the decline.

Asda chief operating officer Andy Bond said he was 'surprised it happened so quickly'. He added: 'This is a real accolade and a huge milestone for Asda's George brand.'

These latest figures, compiled by market research group Taylor Nelson Sofres, are based on the number of items sold rather than total value. In value terms, M&S is still number one with a market share of 10.3%.

However, retail watchers said Asda's triumph is significant for the whole High Street.

'Supermarkets have been banging on about the non-food market since 1995 and in less than a decade they manage to beat the biggest player,' said one analyst. 'The implications for the rest of the High Street are huge.

'Shoppers today have no problem with the idea of putting a T-shirt in their trolley when they go to buy their baked beans.'

Ironically, George Davis, the man who launched the eponymous clothing brand at Asda in the early 1990s, later defected to M&S to launch the Per Una brand. Since then Asda, owned by the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, has surged ahead under the George name to revolutionise cut-price clothes retailing and has become a £1 billion turnover business.

Famous for its £4 jeans, of which two million were sold in the past year, George also claims domination of the more formal market. Last year, the chain sold one million £3 white shirts - equating to roughly one in 30 of the UK male population.

George is sold in 240 of Asda's 266 stores and in four pilot stand-alone stores. A fifth stand-alone George will open in Liverpool tomorrow and a decision is expected next month on whether to roll out the format throughout Britain.

A spokesman for M&S said the company had already admitted there is a lot of work to do but declined to comment further on the industry figures.

The survey also reveals that M&S is under pressure from other rivals in fashion. Tesco, though still a way behind, has seen a 69% leap in market share in the 12 weeks to July 25 to gain 6.5% of the market.