At 8am yesterday morning, the Next store at the western end of Oxford Street looked like Baghdad.

That wasn't just because the store was like a war zone - although it was - but also because at least three quarters of the shoppers fighting for bargains were head-scarved ladies of Middle Eastern origin.

A few doors away at Marks & Spencer's flagship the picture was much the same, as shoppers with food trolleys piled high with pretty much any clothing they could get their hands on were fighting to get them in the lifts.

The experience was almost comically unpleasant and the mindless frenzy of the shoppers seemed to bear out the old adage that the most enthusiastic Sale shoppers are people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

As one harassed shop assistant said to me: "I can understand it for a Gucci handbag from Selfridges, but not for a top from Next."

This is probably the first and last time anyone will say this, but I sought respite in the diginified calm of Primark, which eschews the traditional Sale culture.

As exercises in the clearance of stock, the Next and M&S Sales will be effective, certainly if yesterday's showing is anything to go by. After a very difficult autumn/winter season, the importance of entering the new season with a clean stock position cannot be underestimated and a good Sale can make all the difference.

Other stores on the street that had made the effort to open early, but weren't making a big deal of their Sales were quiet - notably Monsoon and River Island - although by late morning the street seemed to be really filling up with shoppers.

But that said, by positively encouraging a ghastly store experience Next and M&S aren't doing themselves any favours as they seek to reinvent themselves as havens for aspirational shoppers.

Department stores such as Harrods and Selfridges manage to make an event of their Sales without losing their intrinsic values - the question for mass-market retailers is whether there is a way they do this too?

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