Retail news

• Amway taps outsider Pant as chief executive

  11-10-2018 23:14
  The company co-founded by Richard DeVos will continue to be family run
  
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• WH Smith investors test the logic of its high-street paradox

  11-10-2018 21:14
  Results sparked jitters but there is more life in the retailer than Schrödinger’s cat
  
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• Coast fashion chain closes high street stores

  11-10-2018 21:00
  Staff told brand is in administration but department store concessions will be sold to Karen MillenThe fashion chain Coast has become the latest casualty of the high street crisis with 300 jobs and 24 stores set to go as part of an 11th-hour rescue deal.The brand’s high street stores are closing but its 145 department store concessions will carry on trading as part of the sale to sister brand Karen Millen. Continue reading...
  
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• Sale of shredded $1m painting by Banksy completed

  11-10-2018 20:52
  Artist designates ‘Girl With Balloon’ as a new work called ‘Love Is In the Bin’
  
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• Patisserie Valerie's surprise lack of dough means auditors have some explaining to do

  11-10-2018 20:29
  On Monday, the business was worth £450m. Now it can only hope for a financial miracleThat vegan show-stopper cake on this week’s Great British Bake Off collapsed more slowly than Patisserie Valerie.On Monday, the business was a mini-stock market darling worth £450m. Its shareholders could supposedly sleep soundly because the cash balance at the end of March this year was £28.8m. The gross profit margin was reliably about 78% and, as bullish chief executive Paul May put it
  
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• WH Smith to close six stores and 24 Cardmarket outlets

  11-10-2018 19:10
  Group to bring 40 crown post offices into its shops as overall pretax profits fall 4%WH Smith is closing about 30 stores, most of which are part of its Cardmarket budget chain, as it adapts to challenging conditions on the high street.Stephen Clarke, the chief executive, said the retailer would be closing six WH Smith stores which had “not got a hope of making any money” and about 24 Cardmarket outlets over the next three years. WH Smith would not confirm how many jobs would be affec
  
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• Patisserie Valerie crisis rocks Luke Johnson's business career

  11-10-2018 18:48
  Entrepreneur’s business dealings include turning Pizza Express into national chainLuke Johnson made his name – not to mention his multi-million pound fortune – by investing in some of the high street’s most ubiquitous brands.The success story that launched his career as a serial entrepreneur was Pizza Express, the first of a string of investments – mostly in the restaurant industry – that amassed him a £260m fortune, according to the latest Sunday Times
  
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• Mini Ikea spin-off store opens in central London

  11-10-2018 18:05
  Bedroom- and kitchen-focused Planning Studio marks firm’s shift to city centresThe UK boss of Ikea has unveiled a spin-off chain of kitchen and bedroom showrooms and described the new high street outlets as the “tip of the iceberg” as it changes its business model to appeal to online shoppers.The first Ikea Planning Studio opened in central London on Thursday, offering shoppers one-to-one advice sessions, a level of service typically absent from the retailer’s sprawling o
  
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• Fast Retailing chief commits to digital future

  11-10-2018 17:51
  Uniqlo owner bags second consecutive year of record profits
  
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• Fast Retailing: top gear

  11-10-2018 16:50
  Uniqlo’s aggressive expansion has not dented margins
  
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• Patisserie Valerie to close down without 'immediate injection of capital'

  11-10-2018 14:40
  Board of cakes and cafe chain says it is ‘assessing all options available to the business’The stricken cakes and cafe chain Patisserie Valerie said it will have to cease trading without “an immediate injection of capital”.The owner of Patisserie Valerie was plunged into financial crisis on Wednesday after it revealed a multimillion-pound accounting black hole and that its main trading subsidiary was facing a winding-up order. Continue reading...
  
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• WH Smith to shut stores in draw back from high street

  11-10-2018 14:26
  Retailer to cut costs as focus shifts to travel outlets
  
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• IKEA opens first Planning Studio store

  11-10-2018 13:56 via theretailbulletin.com
  IKEA has opened its first shop in its new Planning Studio format for customers shopping for kitchens and bedrooms.
  
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• Photobox launches first range of non-personalised wall art

  11-10-2018 10:40 via theretailbulletin.com
  Photobox, the online consumer service for personalised products and gifts, is launching its first range of non-personalised wall art.
  
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• Yo! Sushi to pilot sushi kiosks in Tesco supermarkets

  11-10-2018 10:03 via theretailbulletin.com
  Yo! Sushi has signed an agreement with Tesco in which it will open sushi kiosks in two Tesco supermarkets, according to reports.
  
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• WH Smith to restructure high street stores business

  11-10-2018 09:27 via theretailbulletin.com
  Book and stationery retailer WH Smith has said it will restructure its high street stores business following a detailed review.
  
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• Dunelm like-for-likes up 4.2% in first quarter

  11-10-2018 09:27 via theretailbulletin.com
  Homewares retailer Dunelm saw its like-for-like sales increase by 4.2% in its first quarter as the company continued to develop its multichannel offering.
  
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• WH Smith to shut stores and draw back from high street

  11-10-2018 09:05
  Retailer to close around 6 shops and cut cost base as focus shifts to travel outlets
  
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• Amazon v the high street – how Doncaster is fighting back

  11-10-2018 07:00
  The old pit town lost 5% of its high-street shops last year – but both the council and creative locals are trying to think againMost towns and cities have the strange, uncertain spaces some people call “edgelands”, but Doncaster’s seem to go on for ever. Thanks to the Yorkshire town’s proximity to four motorways, the expanses around it are full of retail parks and distribution centres, those leviathans that sit at the heart of 21st-century consumerism.Three of them
  
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• Amazon adds to pay boost to address backlash

  11-10-2018 05:21
  Minimum wage increase comes with cuts to stock grants, prompting complaints
  
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