Retail news

• After the lockdown: how a degree of normality could return to UK working life

  17-04-2020 19:49
  
  Measures to combat Covid-19 may include face masks on transport, physical distancing in offices and sport without spectatorsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe government is coming under increasing pressure to outline its strategy for bringing different sectors of the economy out of the coronavirus lockdown.Economists have suggested a “traffic light” system to enable staggered reopenings, moving from red to amber to green as business resumes in certa
  
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• Retailers fear pain will last beyond the end of lockdown

  17-04-2020 19:12
  Chains prepare for more pressure as government support will ease but demand will not recover
  
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• Debenhams reaches deal to keep most stores open; but 7 will shut

  17-04-2020 18:14 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Debenhams strikes deal with landlords to keep 120 of its 142 stores open following administration
  // However, 7 stores will shut, affecting 422 staff
  // Plans to close remaining 28 stores as part of last year’s CVA remains, and some of those closing now may be on that list of 7Debenhams has struck a deal with landlords that will ensure most of its stores will re-open after lockdown in the wake of the department store’s administration last week.
  The retailer confirmed with Retail G
  
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• Suppliers ration stocks of tinned tomatoes after surge in demand

  17-04-2020 18:01
  
  Supermarkets told to ‘calm the fever’ as UK sales rise more than 30% during coronavirus crisisCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageTinned tomato suppliers are rationing stocks to supermarkets after demand in the UK surged more than 30% and threatened to use up supplies ahead of this year’s harvest.Supermarkets and convenience store groups are understood to be jockeying for supplies as families continue to buy more tinned foods than usual after the c
  
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• Chancellor Rishi Sunak extends furlough scheme until June

  17-04-2020 17:27 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // The government’s coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended until June
  // It allows workers affected by the lockdown to be paid 80% of their salaries up to a maximum of £2500 a month
  // The decision comes a day after Brits were told they would have to stay at home for at least another 3 weeksThe UK Government has announced it will pay for staff to remain on furlough for at least another month, as employees are forced to stay home due to the extended lockdown.
  This afternoo
  
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• US retail: JCPenney dreadful

  17-04-2020 17:26
  Putting zombie retailers to rest will give the wider sector a chance to breathe easier
  
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• Retail Gazette Loves: Morrisons feed schoolchildren with Magic Breakfast

  17-04-2020 17:25 via retailgazette.co.uk
  The charity Magic Breakfast has teamed up with Morrisons and various cereal manufacturers, schools and delivery companies to provide breakfasts to vulnerable children amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
  The combined efforts will ensure that over 12,000 children won’t go hungry at breakfast through this period of crisis.
  Magic Breakfast works with 480 partner schools in disadvantaged areas of the UK providing food to children who arrive at school too hungry to learn.
  Some already-vulnera
  
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• At least seven Debenhams stores to close with loss of 400 jobs

  17-04-2020 17:10
  
  Department store chain to close outlets in Salisbury, Westfield in west London and elsewhereCoronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage At least seven Debenhams department stores will not reopen after the high street lockdown eases, resulting in the loss of more than 400 jobs.The department store, which collapsed into administration last week, is understood to be exiting the seven stores, including in Salisbury, Westfield in west London, Leamington Spa and South Shields,
  
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• Coronavirus prompts Booths to launch click-and-collect service

  17-04-2020 16:44 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Booths launches next day click-and-collect to help customers during pandemic
  // Booths staff will take payment by phone & goods can be collected in-store or brought to a customer’s vehicle
  // Booths plans to make it regular service in the coming yearThe ongoing coronavirus pandemic has prompted Booths to launch a next day click-and-collect service for the first time, although payments for online orders are taken by phone.
  Launched today, the service aims to help customers have safer
  
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• Gymshark pledges £175,000 donation to NHS charities

  17-04-2020 15:57 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Gymshark pledges £175,000 donation target for the NHS
  // It is encouraging gym-goers now exercising at home to upload a “sweaty selfie” to help reach its targetGymshark has announced plans to donate £175,000 to NHS charities which support women’s and children’s hospital services.
  The Solihull-based online retailer, which has more than four million followers on its main Instagram account, is encouraging gym-goers now exercising at home to upload a &ldqu
  
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• M&S unveils new bags for life to boost donations for the NHS

  17-04-2020 15:31 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // M&S unveils new bags for life across whereby all profits will be donated to NHS Charities Together
  // The limited edition 20p bags feature a rainbow and heart design as well as a “thank you” message for the NHS
  // The news comes after M&S announced a series of initiatives to support the NHS’s response to coronavirusM&S is set to unveil new, specially designed bags for life across its food stores and food halls whereby all profits will be donated to NHS Charities
  
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• Primark donates 74,000 items to NHS Nightingale

  17-04-2020 13:29 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Primark donates 74,000 products in NHS Nightingale care pack initiative
  // Care packs contain underwear, leggings, T-shirts, footwear & towels and follows calls for essential items from the NHS
  // Primark has made similar donations in other countries where it trades, such as Ireland, Italy, Spain and the US.Primark has donated 74,000 items to patients and NHS front line workers working at the new Nightingale hospital in London.
  The value fashion retailer is making the donation in the form
  
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• Waitrose adding 5000 Rapid delivery slots a week offering same-day delivery to 2.5 million customers

  17-04-2020 12:56 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Waitrose is tripling the number of delivery slots available via its ‘Rapid’ service to help ensure the elderly and vulnerable have access to essentials during the pandemic.
  Waitrose & Partners Rapid delivery service, which enables customers to order up to 25 grocery items for delivery within two hours, will “more than treble” the number of available delivery slots from today.
  This will mean over 2.5 million households can now access the service, with slots rising from
  
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• Onbuy launches Call of Duty: Warzone professional coaching service paying “Gulag Gurus” £35 an hour

  17-04-2020 12:23 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Onbuy is offering Call of Dury: Warzone players £35 an hour to coach players struggling to improve in the game.
  The UK-centric online retail marketplace is recruiting talented players of the new free-to-play battle royal shooter, which now has over 50 million players worldwide.
  “Gulag Gurus” can now sign up with Onbuy and act as a professional coach to gamers who want to improve their overall ability, in-game tactics, weapon loadouts and ability to break out of the Gu
  
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• Farfetch posts first quarter growth despite coronavirus uncertainty

  17-04-2020 11:36 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Farfetch posts first quarter growth but reports slowdown in major markets
  // It has not witnessed “any material impact to its diversified supply and logistics platform to date”
  // Farfetch expects to make a loss in its adjusted EBITDA, of between £16.6m and £19.7mFarfetch has revealed a growth in its preliminary first quarter figures but has seen a slowdown in its larger markets, particularly in Europe and the US amid the coronavirus crisis.
  The luxury goods platform h
  
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• Online sales see “Black Friday” levels of growth thanks to fashion boost

  17-04-2020 11:20 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Online retail sales are growing at levels usually seen during Black Friday as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to dramatically change the retail landscape.
  Last week online sales grew by 38 per cent according to the latest figures from IMRG-Capgemini’s sales tracker.
  According to Capgemini’s Lucy Gibbs, this is the sort of growth only seen around the year’s most lucrative sales events like Black Friday.
  Multichannel retailers saw their online sales shoot up 68 per cent, while pu
  
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• Louis Vuitton owner LVMH blames sales decline on Covid-19 chaos

  17-04-2020 10:50 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // LVMH posts 17% drop in first quarter sales due to the coronavirus pandemic
  // The group had to shut stores in major parts of the world as part of a lockdownLouis Vuitton owner LVMH has recorded a 17 per cent drop in comparable sales in the first quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic, as government-mandated lockdowns resulted in store closures.
  LVMH, which also owns the likes of Dior, Fendi and Givenchy, had to temporarily shut stores in major cities due to the ongoing pandemic.
  The French l
  
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• Circus of Books review – tender doc about family life and gay porn

  17-04-2020 10:00
  
  An affectionate and absorbing documentary from film-maker Rachel Mason about her devout parents, who ran a famous adult bookstore in early-80s LA Here is a documentary with an absorbing and unexpectedly complicated story to tell, whose paradoxes and sadnesses are not entirely resolved by the end. Artist and film-maker Rachel Mason has created an affectionate portrait of her elderly parents, Karen and Barry, who in many ways are like one of the (fictional) old couples in When Harry Met Sally.Kare
  
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• Debenhams begins liquidation of Irish, Hong Kong & Bangladesh businesses

  17-04-2020 09:56 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Debenhams kicks off liquidation process of its Irish, Hong Kong and Bangladesh businesses as part of administration
  // Irish liquidation affects 958 direct employees plus 300 concession staff across 11 stores
  // The Asian liquidations mean contracts of all 48 Hong Kong & 69 Bangladesh employees will be terminateDebenhams has started the liquidation process of its Irish, Hong Kong and Bangladesh arms a week after its core UK businesses filed for administration.
  In Ireland, Kieran Wallace a
  
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• Laura Ashley hires third administrator as coronavirus pressures mount

  17-04-2020 09:45 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Laura Ashley hires third joint administrator due to coronavirus-linked pressures
  // The retailer appointed advisers from PwC when it filed for administration in MarchLaura Ashley has appointed a third joint administrator as it faces increased pressure amid the coronavirus pandemic.
  The lifestyle retailer appointed advisers from PwC when it filed for administration in March, blaming the impact of the pandemic on its demise.
  It became the first coronavirus-linked casualty of the high street at
  
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• Government expands coronavirus loan scheme as lockdown continues

  17-04-2020 09:11 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Businesses that turnover more than £500m can now apply for government-backed support
  // Government extended lockdown for “at least” another 3 weeks
  // Loans to medium and larger firms is included in the £330 billion coronavirus support packageFollowing a three-week extension on coronavirus lockdown measures, businesses that turnover more than £500 million can now apply for government-backed support, the Treasury said.
  The government said loans to medium and
  
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• Coronavirus: Philip Day inserts pandemic clauses into Bonmarché leases

  17-04-2020 08:43 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Edinburgh Woollen Mill will insert pandemic clauses into the new leases on Bonmarche stores
  // The group’s owner Philip Day also owns Peacocks – the company that bought Bonmarche out of administration
  // The clauses mean EWM can agree on new Bonmarché store leases without having to pay any rents upfront until lockdown is liftedEdinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) is reportedly inserting pandemic clauses into the new leases it is due to sign with landlords on Bonmarché stores
  
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• The Schuh Trust to donate £3 million to the Covid-19 relief effort

  17-04-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Schuh is to donate £3 million to the National Emergencies Trust and the NHS Charities Together Covid-19 Appeal through the Schuh Trust. Founded in 2011 following... View Article
  
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• Lululemon begins search for new chief financial officer

  17-04-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Lululemon has announced that its chief financial officer Patrick Guido will be stepping down to take up a new role outside of the apparel sector. Guido joined... View Article
  
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• H&M to launch capsule collection with Desmond & Dempsey

  17-04-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  H&M has teamed up with luxury pyjama brand Desmond & Dempsey on a women’s daywear collection. Based in London, Desmond & Dempsey is the brainchild of... View Article
  
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• AO expands housebuilder sector team

  17-04-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Online electricals retailer AO has strengthened its business to business division with two new appointments. Launched six months ago as a means of targeting the housebuilder... View Article
  
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• Aldi launches home delivery food parcel service

  17-04-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Aldi is making its first move into the online grocery market by selling ambient food parcels on its website. Aimed at vulnerable people and those self-isolating... View Article
  
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