Retail news

• Edinburgh Woollen Mill owner races to thrash out rescue deal

  18-10-2020 19:28
  
  EWM chain of 260 stores could close with thousands of jobs lost but larger chain Peacocks may stay openThe Edinburgh Woollen Mill chain could be closed and Peacocks saved under Philip Day’s plans to rescue his high street empire from complete collapse.Up to 21,500 jobs are at risk at Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group – which also owns Jaeger, Austin Reed, and Jane Norman – as the retailer teeters on the brink of administration.Marston's - 2,150 jobs
  15 October: Marston's  - the
  
  Read more

• M&S and Ocado cause anger with different pricing on same items

  18-10-2020 19:20
  
  Shoppers highlight cases where the price online is more than 40% higher than in storeMarks & Spencer and its new home delivery partner, Ocado, have been criticised for charging different prices for the same products in store and online.Shoppers have highlighted a pricing lottery on identical goods ranging from eggs to lasagne, with differences of more than 40% between those sold in M&S shops and those sold through Ocado in some cases. Some items are more expensive in stores and some pric
  
  Read more

• Hamleys to cut more than a quarter of London staff

  18-10-2020 18:49
  
  Jobs set to go at world’s oldest toyshop’s Regent Street store and nearby head officeThe toy retailer Hamleys is shedding more than a quarter of its workforce in London as the health crisis prompts shoppers to shun the capital’s world-famous shopping district.Founded in 1760, Hamleys is the world’s oldest toyshop, with its store on Regent Street a magnet for international tourists in normal times. But the absence of foreign holidaymakers and tightening local restrictions,
  
  Read more

• UK could face shortage of trainers and leisurewear as Covid fuels surge in demand

  18-10-2020 17:04
  
  More people working from home and keeping fit has taken retailers and brands by surprise
  The UK could face shortages of sports shoes, track pants and stretchy leggings as retailers and suppliers struggle to keep up with a pandemic-related surge in demand.Retailers and brands said they had been taken by surprise by the level of demand online during the spring and summer as the nation ditched its traditional workwear and changed into something more casual to work from home during lockdown and dive
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Record number of shops close with worse yet to come, warn analysts

  18-10-2020 15:05
  
  About 11,000 outlets shut in Britain in first half of 2020, twice as many as in same period last yearA record number of shops disappeared from Britain’s high streets in the first half of 2020 as the Covid-19 lockdowns hammered the retail sector. A total of 11,120 chain store outlets closed between January and June, while 5,119 opened. The 6,001 net store closures was a record high and compared with 3,509 in the first half of last year.What’s the problem? Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Huge rise in UK shop closures with worse yet to come, warn analysts

  18-10-2020 15:05
  
  About 11,000 chain stores closed in the first half of 2020, twice as many than 2019 as a wholeAlmost twice as many shops disappeared from UK high streets in the first half of 2020 than last year as a whole as the Covid-19 lockdowns hammered retail businesses.A total of 11,120 chain store outlets closed between January and June, while 5,119 opened. The 6,001 net store closures was a record high, compared with 3,509 in the same period last year, in another blow to the UK’s struggling retail
  
  Read more

• As a lockdown winter looms, the oodie will fleece us all over again

  18-10-2020 12:15
  
  The blanket with a hood follows slankets and snuggies as the latest comfort-wear crazeEvery autumn a piece of novelty clothing appears, covering the wearer from head to toe, wrapping them in a feeling of embryonic safety. We’ve had the onesie (as popularised by One Direction and Robbie Williams), the Slanket, the Snuggie, the mermaid tail blanket. And this year we have the Oodie.Resembling a blanket with a hood and featuring versions covered in doodles of unicorns, cartoon avocados, sloths
  
  Read more

• Grim picture for US malls as crisis in movies business takes toll

  18-10-2020 12:00
  Shopping centres’ struggles intensify as cinema closures hit footfall
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Mike Ashley puts in new bid for Debenhams

  18-10-2020 11:29 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Mike Ashley makes a renewed bid for Debenhams
  // Sports Direct retail mogul said to have improved offer for historic department store groupSports Direct’s Mike Ashley has made a new offer for Debenhams, renewing his bid for the beleaguered retailer, according to the Sunday Times.
  As Lazard’s auction for Debenhams nears its final stages, Ashley is reported to have made an improved offer for the retailer.
  It marks a new stage of Ashley’s long-running pursuit of the business.RE
  
  Read more

• BRC calls for early start to Christmas as Oxford St reveals early lights switch-on

  18-10-2020 11:00 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // BRC launches nationwide ‘Shop early, start wrapping, enjoy Christmas’ campaign
  // Shoppers encouraged to spread demand during peak shopping period, with Oxford Street lights also due to be switched on earlierThe British Retail Consortium has announced a new national campaign calling on the public to start their shopping earlier to help spread demand for the peak shopping season.
  Titled ‘Shop early, start wrapping, enjoy Christmas’, the campaign is designed as a riff on
  
  Read more

• BRC calls for early start to Christmas as Oxford St plans to turn on lights by Nov 2

  18-10-2020 11:00 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // BRC launches nationwide ‘Shop early, start wrapping, enjoy Christmas’ campaign
  // Shoppers encouraged to spread demand during peak shopping period, with Oxford Street lights also due to be switched on earlierThe British Retail Consortium has announced a new national campaign calling on the public to start their shopping earlier to help spread demand for the peak shopping season.
  Titled ‘Shop early, start wrapping, enjoy Christmas’, the campaign is designed as a riff on
  
  Read more

• ’Tis the season to shop early: ‘stay safe‘ festive ad campaign

  18-10-2020 08:45
  
  Retailers urge customers to avoid the Christmas rush, while investing in hygiene measures to keep them Covid safeCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt might still be pumpkin season, but the British Retail Consortium is pressing ahead with a new advertising campaign urging the public to start their Christmas shopping early. The publicity drive to ‘shop early, start wrapping, enjoy Christmas’ launches today and aims to spread demand during the busiest sho
  
  Read more

• Petcare market booms as lockdown loneliness drives sales

  18-10-2020 00:00
  Spending on animals has risen during the pandemic but fears grow over whether the industry is recession-proof
  
  Read more

Follow @retailuknws on Twitter!