As a regular shopper in Afflecks and particularly Rowfers i can say that the previous review by James B accurately describes the products available in Rowfers. Though why he has to sound like such a childish, sarcastic know-it-all is beyond my grasp. I'm old enough to remember Afflecks opening in the 80's and Rowfers has been there most of the time since then. So i'd say their "business strategy" was working just fine for them. As for links between products being tenuous at best? Poppycock! If James B actually took time to look around the shop properly he might recognise two product ranges;
1) Alternative clothes and accessories.
2) Fairtrade crafts and home-wares.
Thus the products James described, Jewellery, Stripy tights, piercing, bandannas, make-up, badges, studded belts and hair dye all fit into range (1) and perfectly compliment the large range of alternative clothing they primarily sell which james conveniantly omited from his review and causes the review to be inaccurate.
Oil Burners, candles, mirror balls, ornaments and incense sit nicely next to their african wall masks, crystal balls, crystals and windchimes for product range (2).
I wonder if James would be equally confused in TK-Max as they also sell both clothes/accessories and home-wares?
Although i respect James has the right to review shops and express his opinions i just found his review lacked accuracy and was overladen with un-needed sarcasm.
On the plus side i think Rowfers sells some great stuff, often hard to find in the high streets and theyre cheaper than the competition (even their rivals in afflecks such as Sohos and Extreme Largeness). The staff are always friendly and chatty without the hard-sell and the music in the shop is always weird and wonderful. On the down-side i'd say the stock is poorly lit, the location can be hard to find for those who aren't regulars to afflecks and often the sizes are a little on the small size. this might be ok for the hordes of teenagers who regularly flock to afflecks but for those of us with a middle aged spread- we need a bit of give! read more