Retail news

• 'We're going to miss the community': Elephant and Castle shopping centre closes after 55 years

  24-09-2020 20:46
  
  Mixed feelings as icon of working-class London and Europe’s first ever large indoor retail centre makes way for developmentAfter 55 years the final few traders were packing up their shops and stalls at the Elephant and Castle shopping centre in south London with mixed feelings about what the future might hold.“It’s time for a change, because really everything has to be different,” Luz Villamizar, a “60-something” trader said with tears in her eyes. “It&r
  
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• CBI reports strong sales of furniture, DIY goods and groceries

  24-09-2020 20:30
  
  Retail sector shows winners and losers from shift to working from home and Covid restrictions on social events Strong sales of furniture, DIY goods and groceries have pushed the volume of goods sold by retailers and wholesalers to their highest level in 18 months, according to the CBI.September’s monthly health check of high street and online sales from the business lobby group reported that sales of household furniture were 39% higher than normal, with DIY up 20% and groceries up 10% as s
  
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• Hong Kong investor joins bidding war for majority stake in Clarks

  24-09-2020 18:21 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Hong Kong-based investor Lion Rock joins list of bidders for Clarks retail chain
  // Clarks is likely to retain an equity stake in the business if a deal goes ahead
  // The retailer was first in discussions about a share sale in MayClarks has reportedly seen a Hong Kong-based investor join the list of bidders interested in a majority stake in the retailer, as it seeks refinancing amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
  Private equity firm Lion Rock is one of two remaining bidders for the 195 year-old footw
  
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• Morrisons becomes first major grocer to reinstate rationing rule

  24-09-2020 17:27 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Morrisons begins rationing products again, a rule it introduced during the March lockdown
  // Customers will be given a purchase limit of three on certain productsMorrisons has become the first major grocer to reinstate rationing rules on items such as toilet roll and hand sanitiser, following the recent tightened security measures.
  The Big 4 supermarket announced on Thursday that customers will be given a purchase limit of three on certain products so they are “available for everyone&rd
  
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• Coronavirus: Time to stock up ahead of a second wave?

  24-09-2020 17:27 via retailgazette.co.uk
  When Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the UK into a national lockdown in late March during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Brits went into panic mode. Non-essential retailers and the hospitality sector temporarily shut its doors and supermarkets saw staple goods such as toilet rolls, pasta and baked beans fly off shelves amid a wave of stockpiling.
  To their advantage, grocers racked up an extra £1.9 billion in revenue the four weeks to March 21, which exceeded the levels seen dur
  
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• Pets at Home: smarty animals

  24-09-2020 17:01
  Retailer’s shares show no sign of rolling over and dying for anyone
  
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• Chancellor unveils new Job Support Scheme to replace furlough scheme

  24-09-2020 16:41 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveils new Jobs Support Scheme aimed at protecting “viable” roles in second wave
  // The scheme will replace the furlough scheme, which winds up at the end of October
  // New scheme will cost the Treasury an estimated £300m a month for every million workersChancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed a new Jobs Support Scheme aimed at protecting “viable” roles as the UK heads into a second wave of soaring daily cases of Covid-19.
  The new scheme&rsqu
  
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• Morrisons becomes first large supermarket to reinstate Covid rationing

  24-09-2020 15:29
  
  Purchase limit reintroduced on items such as toilet roll to avoid repeat of March’s empty shelvesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMorrisons has become the first large supermarket to reinstate rationing on items such as toilet roll and disinfectant after the tightening of coronavirus measures.The supermarket chain said on Thursday t had introduced a purchase limit of three on a small range of products to ensure they were “available for everyone”.
  
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• Boots begins rolling out Mothercare franchise partnership

  24-09-2020 14:13 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // 10 dedicated Mothercare & Premium Nursery Zones will open in selected Boots stores by November
  // The Mothercare range will also launch on Boots online this week, and will appear in 400 Boots stores from Sept 28
  // Mothercare finalised a 10-year deal with Boots to become its UK & Ireland franchise partner last monthBoots has confirmed that it will start rolling out its Mothercare franchise partnership this week, with the launch of the latter’s products on its website from tomorr
  
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• Klarna apologises after Xbox All Access “debacle” hit customers’ credit scores

  24-09-2020 13:19 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Klarna has apologised after swathes of customers struggled to secure Xbox Series X pre-orders through its payment plan and had their credit scores affected.
  Microsoft partnered with the Swedish payments giant to offer its Xbox All Access bundle, which allowed customers to pay for their consoles in a number of interest-free instalments.
  However, the frenzy to secure a pre-order caused both Game and Smyths’ websites, the only two places in the UK customers could purchase Xbox All Access, to
  
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• John Lewis launches new home campaign & new customer magazine

  24-09-2020 12:47 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // John Lewis invests in its home department with new ad campaign & new customer magazine
  // The ad campaign will feature on TV and extends to new digital and social media
  // The new customer magazine At Home is a glossy, quarterly publication available in John Lewis & Waitrose storesJohn Lewis has launched a new media campaign and a new magazine as part of an investment strategy to strengthen its home department.
  The media campaign consists of a TV advert as well as new digital and soci
  
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• Nearly 1 in 4 Brits now “practically addicted” to online shopping

  24-09-2020 11:20 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Online shopping has become so prevalent in the UK during lockdown that close to a quarter of Brits admit to being “practically addicted” to it.
  More than half of UK adults say they get excited on delivery day when the doorbell rings and look forward to their parcel more than calls with friends and family, or even the end of the working day.
  The research, conducted by Argos and OnePoll, found that 10 per cent of online shoppers order so often that they know their delivery driver by na
  
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• Ted Baker signs Next as lingerie licence partner to “transform business”

  24-09-2020 11:02 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Ted Baker teams up with Next to work on a lingerie and nightwear collection
  // Next will collaborate with the Ted Baker team to design the collection titled B by Ted Baker
  // The first collection will launch in May 2021Ted Baker has signed fellow British retailer Next as a lingerie and nightwear licence partner as part of a three-year agreement.
  Next will work with the Ted Baker team to create and distribute the retailer’s lingerie and nightwear collections, known as B by Ted Baker.
  The
  
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• Pets at Home registers double digit growth and raises forecast

  24-09-2020 10:27 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Pets at Home records strong sales growth in its current financial year
  // In the eight weeks to September 10, the retailer delivered double digit like-for-like growth
  // In July, Pets at Home reported a sales growth across all areas of its businessPets at Home has maintained a strong sales growth in its current financial year, and has raised its forecast thanks to “inherent resilience” of the pet care market.
  In the eight weeks to September 10, the retailer delivered double digit
  
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• India’s richest man eyes up Debenhams acquisition

  24-09-2020 10:05 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani reportedly expresses interest in buying Debenhams
  // He is the retail mogul behind Reliance Retail, the same company that owns Hamleys
  // Debenhams has been up for sale since July, as part of its administration processIndia’s richest man has reportedly emerged as one of the suitors looking to make a bid to acquire embattled department store chain Debenhams.
  According to Sky News, Mukesh Ambani is among the small number of interested parties i
  
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• DFS swings to full year loss as Covid-19 lockdown affects trading

  24-09-2020 09:48 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // DFS revenue declines in the year to June 28 due to Covid-19 lockdown forcing store closures
  // The sofa retailer also made an underlying pre-tax lossDFS has seen its revenue drop after trading was impacted by store closures due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
  In the year to June 28, group revenue fell to £724.5 million from £901 million a year earlier.
  In addition, the sofa retailer made an underlying pre-tax loss pre-IFRS 16 of £56.8 million, driven by reduced margin from lower r
  
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• Chancellor cancels Budget & promises package to replace furlough scheme

  24-09-2020 09:25 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Rishi Sunak cancels Budget & promises financial package to replace the furlough scheme
  // The Chancellor expected to outline his plans to extend & replace financial support in Parliament today
  // The furlough scheme is in the process of being tapered off ahead of an October deadline to shut it downChancellor Rishi Sunak has cancelled this year’s Budget and will instead prioritise protecting millions of jobs in sectors hit by the latest government guidance on Covid-19.
  The Treasu
  
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• Tesco CEO Dave Lewis calls for more action to tackle food waste

  24-09-2020 09:05 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Tesco publishes food waste data for the 8th year, in with which it revealed it has cut 200,000 tonnes of food waste
  // It reached this milestone by working closely with 71 of its largest suppliers around the world
  // “If food loss and waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet,” Dave Lewis saysTesco’s outgoing chief executive Dave Lewis has urged businesses and countries to do more to tackle food waste, which currently makes
  
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• It's time to get serious about food waste in fight against global heating | Dave Lewis

  24-09-2020 07:00
  
  It is responsible for 8% of emissions, yet food waste is not mentioned in any country’s Paris climate action plan
  Tesco boss calls on firms and countries to tackle food wasteAs a society, we are converting more and more land to food production, with massive consequences for wildlife, water and forests. Yet one third of all food produced is thrown away and food waste is responsible for a staggering 8% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, more than any country in the world bar the US and
  
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• Waitrose predicts second baking boom

  24-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Waitrose is predicting that it will see its biggest ever surge in baking ingredient sales due to the popularity of the latest series of the Great... View Article
  
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• Saks Fifth Avenue launches ‘Register to Vote at Saks’ initiative

  24-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  US department store Saks Fifth Avenue is launching a ‘Register to Vote at Saks’ initiative both online and at its New York flagship to mark National... View Article
  
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• Q&A: Julia Redman – Owner, Buyers Eye, London, UK

  24-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Julia Redman owns and manages retail buying and sourcing consultancy Buyers Eye, empowering brands, retailers, suppliers and licensees to maximise their potential. Can you tell us... View Article
  
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• Pets at Home raises full year profit expectations

  24-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Pets at Home has said the strong sales momentum seen in the last eight weeks of its first quarter has continued into the second. As a... View Article
  
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• On Demand: Masters of AI | How to win the Black Friday Battle

  24-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  As retailers continue to try and steady the ship after a turbulent 2020, this year’s Black Friday could well prove to be the most important one... View Article
  
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• Menkind to open concessions in Debenhams stores

  24-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Gifts and gadgets retailer Menkind is to open concessions in 23 Debenhams stores at the beginning of next month. Now that all Menkind stores have reopened... View Article
  
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• Icon Outlet performs well post-lockdown

  24-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Icon Outlet has revealed that sales rose by 30% at the designer outlet centre in the 12 weeks post-lockdown. The company said sales have trended from... View Article
  
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• DFS swings to full year loss

  24-09-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  DFS has reported that group revenue for the year to 28 June fell to £724.5 million from £901 million a year earlier after trading was impacted... View Article
  
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