Retail news

• Easing lockdown: outdoor meetings just one of the back-to-work guidelines

  11-05-2020 22:12
  
  Guidelines seek to safeguard staff in shops, offices, industry, labs, restaurants and vehiclesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageOffice workers should consider holding meetings outside, shop changing rooms should be cleaned after every user and takeaway customers should wait in their cars, under sweeping new back-to-work guidelines issued by the government on Monday.Companies across Britain will have to consult with their staff and union officials about how they wi
  
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• Big Interview: Zia Zareem-Slade, Customer Experience Director, Fortnum & Mason

  11-05-2020 18:15 via retailgazette.co.uk
  “The world might be going mad around us and there are definitely difficult and uncertain times ahead. But you know what will make that better? Tea and biscuits.”
  Fortnum & Mason customer experience director Zia Zareem-Slade clearly feels confident about the retailer’s future.
  Before the Covid-19 pandemic, department store chains were already struggling – with many familiar high street names around the world either falling into administration or underwent major restruc
  
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• 'It's a blessing to be out': customers enjoy visit to Welsh garden centre

  11-05-2020 17:45
  
  Wales has allowed garden centres to reopen during coronavirus crisis before the rest of UKCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageFirst through the doors of Chepstow Garden Centre was Hannah Davies. She admitted she did not have green fingers, but had a special reason to be keen to take advantage of the Welsh government’s decision to allow garden centres to re-open.“My mum, Sharon, died five years ago. She made me promise to keep the garden going,” sai
  
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• Studio hires Rupert Nichols as new trading director

  11-05-2020 17:25 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Studio has appointed Rupert Nichols as trading director
  // He moves to the online retailer after a stint as Dixons Carphone group buying directorStudio has strengthened its senior team with the appointment of Rupert Nichols as its trading director.
  Nichols joins the online retailer after a stint as group buying director for Dixons Carphone and previously with DSGi and Sainsburys.
  In his new role at Studio, Nichols will be charged with driving new trading opportunities for the business, while
  
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• Next mulls online expansion plans

  11-05-2020 17:05 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Next eyes major expansion as online host for other brands
  // Next has reportedly been building a platform called Total Platform for the past year
  // Follows recent news of opening five new beauty hall concept stores in space left vacant by DebenhamsNext is reportedly planning to transform its online business in a bid to seek additional income streams in a post-coronavirus climate.
  According to The Telegraph, the high street stalwart is looking to adopt a new online platform called Total
  
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• Huge demand for cycles during lockdown set to rise further

  11-05-2020 16:16
  
  Bike sales have soared – and Halfords shares jump 17% as government urges people to cycle when they return to workCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe coronavirus lockdown has led to a boom in bicycle sales that looks set to accelerate as the government encourages people to cycle to work after easing restrictions.After the government spent the weekend talking up cycling as a way for workers to safely return to work, shares in Halfords jumped 17% on Monday.
  
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• Huge demand for bikes during lockdown set to grow further

  11-05-2020 16:16
  
  Halfords shares jump 17% as government urges people to cycle when they return to workCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe coronavirus lockdown has led to a boom in bicycle sales that appears set to accelerate as the government encourages people to cycle to work after easing restrictions.After the government spent the weekend talking up cycling as a way for workers to safely return to work, shares in Halfords jumped 17% on Monday. Continue reading...
  
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• Non-essential retail to reopen in June as govt unveils lockdown exit plan

  11-05-2020 16:09 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Government’s lockdown exit strategy laid out in a new 50-page document
  // Non-essential shops, such as fashion or homeware retailers, could re-open from the start of June
  // Other high street businesses, such as pubs, hairdressers and cinemas will have to wait until JulyMore shuttered stores on the high street are set to reopen from June under a lockdown exit strategy laid out in a new 50-page document from the UK Government.
  Shops currently considered “non-essential”, such
  
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• Morrisons cuts petrol price to under £1 a litre

  11-05-2020 15:26
  
  Retailer becomes first major UK supermarket to go below £1 since global oil prices crashedMorrisons has cut the price of petrol to a maximum of 99.7p a litre at all its UK forecourts with immediate effect.The move is the first by a major supermarket chain to reduce the price of petrol below the £1 threshold since oil prices crashed last month as a result of the global coronavirus lockdown. Continue reading...
  
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• Morrisons, Asda and Tesco cut petrol prices to less than £1 a litre

  11-05-2020 15:26
  
  Unleaded fuel from supermarket pumps drops to lowest price nationally in four yearsThree of the UK’s major supermarkets have cut petrol prices to below £1 a litre, following the collapse in the global oil market.Morrisons, Asda and Tesco all announced that the cost of unleaded petrol would fall to less than £1 a litre, the first time it has been available nationally at that price for four years. The moves were the latest in a string of price cuts which began in March. Continue
  
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• Holland & Barrett apologises for “horrible” delivery delays and hires hundreds to meet demand

  11-05-2020 15:25 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Holland & Barrett has been forced to open a brand-new distribution centre to meet a massive spike in demand for online orders during lockdown.The health supplement retailer has hired hundreds of new staff to help it meet a 400 per cent jump in demand which it has struggled to meet, leaving hundreds of customers furious over the delivery chaos.
  David Norman@davidnorman@holland_barrett I know that you must be receiving more orders than usual and you must be very busy, but I have been charged f
  
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• 'I'm a little frightened': Parisians edge their way out of lockdown

  11-05-2020 15:21
  
  French capital begins cautious reopening of shops and schools despite continued coronavirus riskCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageOn an unseasonably chill grey May morning, in coats and scarves, Paris came out of lockdown in much the same mood as it went into it two months ago: a bit hesitantly; dragging its feet; not entirely sure what the rules were of another new non-normality.“I’m a little bit frightened,” admitted Marianna Mota, reopening he
  
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• Aldo files for bankruptcy protection

  11-05-2020 13:31 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Aldo files for bankruptcy protection in Canada, where it is headquartered
  // The footwear retailer is seeking a restructuring process under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act
  // This process has similarities with a CVA in the UK or Chapter 11 in the USAldo has filed for bankruptcy protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) in Canada in a bid stabilise the business.
  The Canadian footwear retailer said court restructuring process began last week and it wa
  
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• Stinky Asian fruit makes for sexy business as lockdown eases

  11-05-2020 13:07
  Sales of durian soar as Thai hunks hawk ‘King of Fruit’ to China
  
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• Asda launches dedicated website for £30 foods boxes offering 2-day delivery “for vulnerable” shoppers

  11-05-2020 13:02 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Asda has launched a new dedicated online platform for its food boxes to ensure the vulnerable and elderly have access to food.
  The grocer has launched foodboxes.asda.com in partnership with StarStock which promises to provide two-day home delivery.
  It is understood that these deliveries will be handled independently from Asda’s core delivery operations, meaning its already overstretched service will remain unaffected.
  Asda’s new “cupboard filler” food box contai
  
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• UK consumer confidence is still at a record low

  11-05-2020 12:02 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Consumer confidence increased by one point at the end of April but remains “severely depressed” at -33
  // Among the 5 subindexes, 3 increased, 1 decreased and 1 remained unchangedConsumer confidence in the UK edged up fractionally at the end of April after it previously hit its lowest level in over a decade amid the coronavirus pandemic, new data has shown.
  The GfK’s long-running consumer confidence barometer stood at -33 at the end of April, an increase of one point compare
  
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• Lidl owner launching its own rival to Amazon Web Services

  11-05-2020 11:41 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Lidl’s parent company Schwarz Group is taking on Amazon by launching its own cloud computing service for third party retailers.
  Schwarz Group, which owns both Lidl and Kaufland, is launching its own rival to Amazon Web Services (AWS) following the recent acquisition of software specialist Camao IDC, according to Lebensmittel Zeitun.
  The acquisition, which completed on May 1, brings 70 cloud specialists into the wider group representing key “resources in an important area of digi
  
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• Kering launches £1bn bond issue after Covid-19 hits sales

  11-05-2020 10:22 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Kering launches £1bn bond issue after suffering 15.4% sales hit in first quarter due to Covid-19
  // Kering said the bond issue “contributes to the diversification of the group’s financing resources”Kering has launched a €1.2 billion (£1 billion) bond issue after the company suffered a 15.4 per cent sales hit in the first quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic.
  Kering, which owns the likes of Gucci, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta, said the bond issue “c
  
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• Stores could reopen as early as June, Boris Johnson says

  11-05-2020 09:51 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // PM Boris Johnson laid out a prospective timeline to ease lockdown restrictions on Sunday
  // Some stores may reopen as early as next monthPrime Minister Boris Johnson has said that some shops may be able to reopen as early as next month as part of a phased easing of lockdown measures.
  Johnson revealed a prospective timeline to ease lockdown restrictions on Sunday, which included the reopening of some shops in June.
  However, he said the reopenings depended on the rate of Covid-19 infections,&nb
  
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• Tapi Carpets hires ex-Eve Sleep CEO James ­Sturrock as new boss

  11-05-2020 09:26 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Tapi Carpets hires former Eve Sleep CEO James ­Sturrock to take top job
  // Tapi Carpets was set up by Carpetright founder’s son, Martin HarrisTapi Carpets has reportedly appointed the former chief executive of mattress retailer Eve Sleep, James ­Sturrock, to run its carpet-selling business.
  Sturrock exited the struggling mattress firm in April, and joins ­Tapi Carpets on Monday, The Telegraph reported.
  Tapi Carpets was set up by Martin Harris, son of the founder of larger ri
  
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• Primark & Superdry EU store reopenings may offer clues into customer behaviours

  11-05-2020 08:59 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Primark and Superdry reopen stores in Europe, which has offered clues into consumer behaviours
  // Primark resumed trading at 5 Austrian stores and 20 Dutch stores at the start of last week
  // Superdry reopened more than 60 stores in Germany, Austria, Denmark and SwedenPrimark and Superdry have reportedly received a boost from reopening stores across Europe in moves that offer early clues as to how customers may behave once the coronavirus lockdown has been eased in the UK.
  Fast fashion retail
  
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• Coronavirus: Retail footfall suffers largest ever decline

  11-05-2020 08:34 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Retail saw its largest ever footfall decline in footfall in April
  // This is due to shoppers staying home amid the Covid-19 chaosThe UK’s retail sector has seen its largest ever decline in footfall last month as shoppers stayed home due to the coronavirus pandemic.
  In April, there was a “decline of unprecedented magnitude” as the number of people at retail sites dropped by a colossal 80.1 per cent, according to Springboard’s latest monthly footfall monitor.
  T
  
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• Primark and Superdry boosted by European store reopenings

  11-05-2020 05:01
  Moves by UK retailers offer clues to how customers might react to easing of lockdowns elsewhere
  
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• How Tatyana Bakalchuk took Russia’s ecommerce throne

  11-05-2020 05:00
  Woman who shook up country’s business establishment faces up to pandemic challenge
  
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• Trouble ahead for store vacancy rates

  11-05-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  New figures have shown that the vacancy rate in UK shopping locations edged up in March. Compiled by the British Retail Consortium and the Local Data... View Article
  
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• Studio strengthens senior team with trading director appointment

  11-05-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Studio has strengthened its senior team with the appointment of Rupert Nichols as trading director. In his new role with the online value retailer, Nichols will... View Article
  
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• Starbucks to begin re-opening stores from 14 May

  11-05-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  The Starbucks coffee shop has unveiled plans for a phased re-opening of its UK drive-thru locations and a handful of stores where customers will be able... View Article
  
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• Retailers in London’s West End prepare for re-opening

  11-05-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  The organisation representing retailers in London’s West End has produced a set of plans for a phased and safe reopening of the shopping district. Designed to... View Article
  
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• Pret A Manger to start selling retail coffee range on Amazon

  11-05-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Pret A Manger is launch its first ever retail coffee range next week with the introduction of three organic coffee products that will be sold on... View Article
  
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• Morrisons and Amazon expand Prime Now grocery delivery service

  11-05-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Morrisons has announced that its partnership with Amazon will see an expansion of its same-day online grocery delivery service to Amazon Prime members. The service will... View Article
  
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• Kering launches €1.2 billion bond issue

  11-05-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Kering has launched a €1.2 billion dual-tranche bond issue after its sales were impacted by the covid-19 outbreak. The owner of luxury brands such as Gucci,... View Article
  
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• Central England Co-op to open new Nottingham store

  11-05-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Central England Co-op is to open a new food store in Nottingham this week. Due to launch on 15 May, the shop is part of the... View Article
  
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• Cake Box plans to re-open all stores by June

  11-05-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Egg-free cake retailer Cake Box has said it expects to have all its high street shops open by early June after a trial click and collect... View Article
  
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