Retail news

• Small steps towards a plastic-free world | Letters

  17-01-2020 18:57
  
  Dr Yoriko Otomo on the difficulty of not buying any plastic for a week, and Carol Taylor on a brilliant mobile shop in DerbyshireRe John Vidal’s article (The solution to the plastic waste crisis? It’s not recycling, Journal, 15 January), after his earlier article on plastic (The plastic polluters won 2019 – and we’re running out of time to stop them, 2 January) I pledged not to buy any plastic for a week. This was eye-opening, as my family discovered that all the apples (
  
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• How Superdry can get back into fashion

  17-01-2020 16:46 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  When Julian Dunkerton and James Holder opened Superdry from a stall in Cheltenham market, little did they know it would grow to become a fashion label that had the backing of celebrities like David Beckham and Idris Elba.
  But 16 years after its founding, the fashion retailer is on the decline. This month, Superdry issued a profit warning after sales dropped during the key Christmas trading period. It wasn’t the first lacklustre trading update from the British retailer either, having been p
  
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• Retail Gazette Loves: John Lewis supporting parents-to-be

  17-01-2020 16:45 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  John Lewis has unveiled an initiative where expectant parents will benefit from a two year partnership between itself and the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), the UK’s leading charity for parents.
  Through the partnership, parents-to-be who attend NCT Antenatal Courses will receive a John Lewis offer in the famous NCT gift pack.
  They’ll be able to take advantage of free nursery advice from a specially trained John Lewis staff member, and offers worth £70 at one of  the 42 J
  
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• Casino/French strikes: red herring

  17-01-2020 16:41
  French supermarket blames unrest for poor sales, but this story whiffs of one of its fish counter
  
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• Pressure for business rate reform to lift town centres intensifies

  17-01-2020 16:34
  UK government’s promised ‘fundamental review’ will require hard choices
  
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• Trans woman awarded £9000 in Debenhams discrimination case

  17-01-2020 16:12 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  // Debenhams pays trans woman £9000 to settle a discrimination case
  // Ava Moore had applied for a job as a temporary sales assistant but was rejected
  // The Equality Commission supported Moore in the caseDebenhams has been ordered to pay out a £9000 settlement to a trans woman in order to settle a discrimination case.
  The case pertained to Ava Moore, who had applied for a job as a temporary sales assistant with the department store in Newry, County Down in the run up to Christmas 20
  
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• Another 12 stores shut as Arcadia pushes ahead with CVAs

  17-01-2020 15:51 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  // Arcadia has shut down 12 stores since the beginning of January
  // The Topshop store in Westfield Stratford is closing as the lease expires and is not part of Arcadia’s CVAs
  // Since Christmas, Arcadia has also been forced to close 26 outlets inside DebenhamsSir Philip Green’s Arcadia has closed a raft of stores in the wake of a tough Christmas.
  A total of 12 stores have shut down since Arcadia announced earlier this month that the Topshop and Topman store in London’s Westfie
  
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• Retail Gazette Loves: John Lewis & Partners supporting parents-to-be

  17-01-2020 15:40 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  John Lewis & Partners has announced that from today, expectant parents will benefit from a two year partnership between itself and the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) the UK’s leading charity for parents.
  Through the partnership parents-to-be attend NCT Antenatal Courses will receive a John Lewis offer in the famous NCT ‘Gift Pack’.
  They’ll be able to take advantage of free nursery advice from a specially trained John Lewis Partner, and offers worth £70 at one o
  
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• Crew Clothing Company posts 12% Christmas sales growth

  17-01-2020 13:13 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  // Crew Clothing Company’s overall sales grew 12% in 8 weeks to January 5
  // Store sales grew 4%
  // Online sales surged 18%Crew Clothing Company has registered a record-breaking Christmas as sales growth both in-store and online saw it defy tough trading conditions on the high street.
  For the eight weeks to January 5, the fashion retailer saw overall sales jump by 12 per cent.
  Crew Clothing Company said this was bolstered by a four per cent uptick in store sales, while online sales surged
  
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• Christmas was not so merry for retailers, ONS data shows

  17-01-2020 12:46 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  // Amount spent & quantity bought in final quarter fell 0.9% & 1.0% respectively compared with the previous 3 months, ONS says
  // Compared to November, there was a 0.3% & 0.6% drop in amount spent & quantity bought respectively in December
  // Year-on-year, both measures saw growth of 1.5% for the amount spent & 0.9% for the quantity boughtShoppers cut down on both how much they bought and the amount they spent at the end of last year, new figures show.
  In the three months to
  
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• High street gloom continues as fears grow over UK economy

  17-01-2020 12:31
  
  Retail sales fail to rise for record fifth month in a row in December, says ONSHigh street sales in Britain slumped in December as consumers reined in their spending over the key Christmas shopping period, adding to the gloom facing embattled retailers across the country and increasing the likelihood of an interest rate cut later this month.According to the Office for National Statistics, retail sales failed to rise for a record fifth month in a row in December as household spending in high stre
  
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• Boots’ owner Walgreens is training staff in virtual reality

  17-01-2020 11:07 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Walgreens Boots Alliance is using Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 to train its staff in virtual reality to handle thousands of new products and learn new store layouts before they’re finished.
  The US retail giant, which owns Boots here in the UK, is launching the VR training pilot amid a wider partnership with Microsoft.
  Using its HoloLens device staff will enter a virtual three-dimensional model of reconfigured stores and various scenarios so they can learn how to restock items, determine if
  
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• Weak retail sales raise fresh pressure on Bank of England

  17-01-2020 11:02
  Signs that the resilient consumer sector deteriorated at the end of last year
  
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• UK retail sales suffer longest contraction since records began

  17-01-2020 11:02
  Weak consumer sector adds to pressure on Bank of England to cut rates
  
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• Falling retail sales raise fresh pressure on Bank of England

  17-01-2020 11:02
  Signs that the resilient consumer sector deteriorated at the end of last year
  
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• Ernest Jones owner registers sales drop in “difficult environment”

  17-01-2020 10:35 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  // Signet Jewelers records sales drop
  // The Ernest Jones owner blamed the decline on a “difficult operating environment”Ernest Jones and H Samuel owner Signet Jewelers has reported a sales decline during the golden quarter thanks to the “difficult operating environment”.
  Signet’s international same-store sales decreased 3.1 per cent during the nine weeks to January 4.
  Online sale grew 15.8 per cent while in-store sales dropped by six per cent on a like-for-lik
  
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• M&S drafts in another Topshop executive

  17-01-2020 10:12 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  // M&S poaches Topshop’s trading director Helen Wilson as head of merchandising for womenswear
  // Wilson first joined Topshop as merchandising director in November 2012
  // M&S has also seen other executives from Arcadia joining its company in the past yearMarks & Spencer has reportedly poached Topshop’s trading director Helen Wilson as head of merchandising for womenswear.
  Earlier this week, Arcadia revealed that Wilson was serving her notice and is due to leave the busin
  
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• Shares in French retailers sink following wave of strikes

  17-01-2020 10:07
  Casino and Fnac Darty each fell around 10 per cent as they outlined hits to earnings
  
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• French retailers blame strikes for expected hit to earnings

  17-01-2020 10:07
  Shares in Casino and Fnac Darty both fall more than 10 per cent
  
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• The health of UK retail was at an all-time low in 2019

  17-01-2020 09:57 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  // Christmas failed to turn the tide on deteriorating retail health, the KPMG/Ipsos Retail Think Tank says
  // Retail Health Index now stands at a new record low of 74, the lowest score on record
  // The score on the index also declined every quarter in 2019
  // However, the UK retail is predicted to grow by at least one per cent this year – although it won’t be immediateA index that measures the overall health of the UK retail industry has recorded its lowest ever score, as the golden
  
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• Gap ditches plans to spin off Old Navy

  17-01-2020 09:47 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  // Gap will no longer pursue plans to separate Old Navy from rest of the group
  // The retailer said last year it will “revitalise” the company
  // Gap’s stock price rose 16% a day after the plans were first announcedGap has ditched its plans to separate its subsidiary Old Navy from the rest of the group – which includes Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic.
  Despite first revealing plans to break up the fashion group last year to “revitalise” the company, resulting
  
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• Theo Paphitis’ Ryman & Robert Dyas grow but rent cuts sought for Boux Avenue

  17-01-2020 09:25 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  // Ryman and Robert Dyas enjoyed increases in sales and profits, but Boux Avenue suffered
  // Theo Paphitis Retail Group is reportedly in talks with landlords to cut rents across the Boux Avenue store estateTheo Paphitis Retail Group has recorded full-year growth for its Ryman and Robert Dyas chains, but tough trading for Boux Avenue has prompted it to seek rent cuts with landlords.
  For the financial year to March 30 2019, Ryman’s sales grew 1.4 per cent year-on-year to £129.9 million
  
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• COMMENT: How to maximise January sales without sacrificing margin

  17-01-2020 08:52 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  Every year the January sales present a useful opportunity to make space in the warehouse and generate some cash for the coming year. Consumers are hungry for a bargain and the retail industry is happy to give them just that.
  A quick look at the windows on the high street, or your inbox, shows just how discount-driven promotions are this time of year. But running a successful January sale doesn’t mean you have to race your competitors to the bottom.
  Clearing out the warehouse and generating
  
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• The Works posts uplift in Christmas sales as chief executive steps down

  17-01-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  The Works saw its like-for-like sales edge up 1.5% in the 11 weeks to 12 January after achieving sales growth both in its stores and online.... View Article
  
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• Robert Dyas and Ryman report increased full year sales

  17-01-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Theo Paphitis Retail Group has reported that stationery retailer Ryman increased its revenue by 1.4% to £129.9 million in the year to 30 March 2019. EBITDA... View Article
  
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• Primark to open 18 new stores this year

  17-01-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Primark is to open 18 new stores this year after sales rose by 4.5% at constant currency in its first quarter and by 3% at actual... View Article
  
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• Primark to open 18 new stores in current financial year

  17-01-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Primark is to open 18 new stores this year after sales rose by 4.5% at constant currency in its first quarter and by 3% at actual... View Article
  
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• H&M to expand to Central America

  17-01-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  H&M is to open its first store in Central America after signing  a franchise agreement with Hola Moda. The first store will launch in Panama by... View Article
  
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