Retail news

• There was nothing groovy about renting stuff when I was growing up

  15-08-2020 18:30
  
  A slick marketing scheme might not appeal to a generation priced out of home ownershipMaybe it shouldn’t come as such a huge surprise that Generation Rent… rents. John Lewis has unveiled a furniture rental service, starting at £17 a month for a desk or chair for 12 months. Similarly, Ikea announced last year that it was looking into furniture rentals and a system of environmentally friendly customer returns, embracing the circular economy.Maybe, like me, you’re thinking:
  
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• Stand and deliver: Waitrose and M&S fight for Ocado customers

  15-08-2020 17:00
  
  When the home shopping service joins forces with the Marks & Spencer empire in September, will its loyal clients stay with it – or substitute waitrose.com instead?The social media channels of online grocer Ocado are abuzz. Both Sharon and Natalie are exited about the prospect of being able to order Marks & Spencer’s famous Percy Pig sweets from Ocado. Hayley, however, is decamping to waitrose.com, because she is not a fan of M&S food and its “excess packaging”
  
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• Debenhams hires restructuring firm for potential liquidation

  15-08-2020 16:18
  
  Thousands of jobs under threat if attempts to sell historic department store failDebenhams’ owners have appointed restructuring experts to draw up plans for its potential liquidation in a move that could threaten thousands of jobs.Company bosses appointed Hilco Capital, a firm that specialises in helping to wind down distressed retail businesses, to work with them should attempts to sell the historic department store end in failure.M&Co – 400 jobs
  5 August: M&Co., the Renfrew
  
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• Further jobs at risk as Debenhams owners plan liquidation

  15-08-2020 13:40 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Debenhams owners draft in restructuring firm Hilco Capital to work on possible liquidation
  // Hilco’s “contingency planning” will aim to secure the future of the 242-year-old chain
  // The move could result in the single-biggest job cuts of the pandemicThe owners of Debenhams have reportedly drawn up plans for the department store chain’s liquidation, which could result in mass job cuts amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
  Restructuring firm Hilco Capital has been drafted in to
  
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• 14,000 Debenhams jobs at risk as owners plan liquidation

  15-08-2020 13:40 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Debenhams owners draft in restructuring firm Hilco Capital to work on possible liquidation
  // Hilco’s “contingency planning” will aim to secure the future of the 242-year-old chain
  // The move could result in the single-biggest job cuts of the pandemicThe owners of Debenhams have reportedly drawn up plans for the department store chain’s liquidation, which could result in mass job cuts amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
  Restructuring firm Hilco Capital has been drafted in to
  
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• For Manhattan's retail industry normal may never return

  15-08-2020 13:00
  
  Brands and restaurants have decided the city’s sky-high rents are just too expensive for them‘It’s the worst I’ve seen’: London’s West End struggles to bounce backOn a damp and humid Thursday afternoon Manhattan’s Union Square is looking sorry for itself. There’s 73,000 sq ft of empty retail space up for grabs at 44 Union Square in the now boarded up neo-Georgian landmark that was once Tammany Hall. There’s more space to rent on the opposite
  
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• Sharmaine Lovegrove: ‘You must spend a year in a bookshop before you get a job in publishing’

  15-08-2020 12:00
  
  Seeing unexpected pairings of readers and books quickly dispels the idea of who reads what• Time to reset: more brilliant ideas to remake the worldI have a party trick. If you name three books you like and two you hate, I can write you a reading list of 10 books you will love.I’ve gained this skill from two decades as a bookseller. Many questioned if I could become a publisher and run an imprint, as I hadn’t worked in-house. But I’ve worked in retailers from Foyles to the
  
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• A nation of shopkeepers shaken by the shift online

  15-08-2020 12:00 via ft.com
  Pandemic increases challenges UK’s retailers were facing by rapid growth of ecommerce
  
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• 'It's the worst I've ever seen': London’s West End struggles to bounce back

  15-08-2020 11:00
  
  Shoppers and office workers are shunning UK cities with footfall in the capital’s once busy centre down by 63%Mid-August should be boom time for central London. The streets would usually bustle with shoppers, workers and tourists, looking to spend their cash in the West End’s shops, restaurants and leisure attractions.But not this year. Vast swathes of the capital’s streets that once hummed with traffic and pedestrians lie quiet. On Friday morning just a scattering of shoppers
  
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• Never knowingly under-leased - John Lewis moves to rent out its furniture

  15-08-2020 09:00
  
  Chain targets shoppers such as millennials for whom renting goods rather than owning them is normalIt’s typically been the preserve of landlords and property dressers trying to sell a home, but furniture rental could be about to go mainstream. From Monday, high street favourite John Lewis will be renting out sofas, sideboards and desks, as part of the plan to remodel its business announced last month.Tenants who are in short-term lets, or shoppers who want to try before they buy, can choos
  
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• A tents situation – UK staycation boom fuels run on camping toilets

  15-08-2020 09:00
  
  Closed WC blocks and Covid-19 hygiene fears lead to sellout of bring-your-own conveniencesThe rush to take holidays under canvas has prompted a run on the home comforts that make tent life more congenial – and resulted in shortage of camping toilets.Mike Attwooll, a product buyer at the camping equipment seller Attwoolls, said camping conveniences were “going out of the door as quickly as they’re coming in. You can’t get a toilet for love nor money.” Related: Take f
  
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• UK charity shops sales suffer despite lockdown 'decluttering'

  15-08-2020 08:00
  
  Surge in donations during pandemic but likes of Oxfam and Barnardo’s report drop in incomeCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBritain’s charity shops are struggling with sales declines of as much as one-third, despite enjoying bumper stock levels – and offering huge savings – following a surge in donations after households “decluttered” during lockdown.Oxfam, which has 595 shops, said that money coming through its tills is down by
  
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• From loo rolls to fashion: how to spend your cash more ethically

  15-08-2020 08:00
  
  Coronavirus has made us all think about where our money is going. Here are everyday things you can do to make a differenceEven before the coronavirus crisis hit, many of us were starting to think harder about how we spent our money. Now, with incomes squeezed for some and the pandemic putting the spotlight on the most vulnerable sections of society, there is even more cause to consider where your cash is going.Here we look at some simple switches you can make and the retailers that use your mone
  
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