Retail news

• Americans prepare for a holiday shopping season like no other

  20-11-2020 22:00
  The pandemic has left some consumers ready to spend more while many others face a financial crunch
  
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• Landlords accuse Clarks over legal deal to cut shop rents

  20-11-2020 19:34
  
  Arrangement reached by shoe company will wipe out rent arrears and slash future billsLandlords have accused Clarks of abusing a moratorium on commercial evictions as the shoe chain pushed through a legal deal that will cut the rent it pays on 60 stores to zero.Creditors on Friday approved an insolvency process known as a creditors’ voluntary arrangement (CVA), which will wipe out rent arrears on more than 300 outlets as well as slash future rent bills. Continue reading...
  
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• NHS staff face burnout as Covid Christmas nears | Letters

  20-11-2020 19:32
  
  Neurosurgeon Alistair Jenkins thinks Nightingale hospitals are an expensive PR stunt that cannot possibly be utilised, Jonathan Humphreys says NHS workers are utterly defeated and a five-day festive jolly is selfish, while Sue Sedgwick wants to start a ‘do Christmas differently’ campaign During this second lockdown, it is notable that while deaths from Covid-19 as a percentage appear to have fallen, hospital admissions are rising rapidly. In some parts of the country, we are once aga
  
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• Next chief executive Wolfson sells £10m in stock

  20-11-2020 19:00
  Sales are well down, but the group’s share price has recovered from its March low
  
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• Clarks CVA approved by 90% of creditors

  20-11-2020 18:30 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Clarks’ CVA proposal receives the greenlight with 90% of creditors voting in favour of it
  // The rescue deal seeks to convert around 60 of Clarks’ 320 UK stores to zero rent
  // The CVA’s approval was a requirement of LionRock Capital’s investment in Clarks, for which it will acquire a £100m majority stakeClarks has been given the green light it needs to push on with a rescue plan in the form of a CVA, which includes no rent on many of its stores.
  The footwear ret
  
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• Watch all of the retail Christmas adverts of 2020 – so far

  20-11-2020 18:10 via retailgazette.co.uk
  There may still be an pandemic but that’s no reason to completely cancel Christmas this year. Retailers are once again rolling out their annual season of Christmas adverts, and many of them touch on how our lives have all changed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
  Here’s a roundup of the latest 2020 Christmas adverts in UK retail. We’ll keep updating this page each time a new campaign is launched.
  Which are your top three adverts so far?John Lewis and Waitrose – Give a Li
  
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• Friday Fun One: Social media users skewering Sainsbury’s Christmas ad dissenters

  20-11-2020 17:27 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Sainsbury’s was recently forced to defend itself after it was met with calls for a boycott from customers who were furious about a Black family who just so happened to be featured in the first of its three-part series of Christmas adverts.
  The advert in question, called Gravy Song, made its debut last weekend and focuses on a father and daughter’s excitement and memories around Christmas, and how it gets them talking about his gravy and his “famous” gravy song.
  The team
  
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• Morrisons extends 10% discount to emergency services, armed forces & care workers

  20-11-2020 16:39 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // All Blue Light Card holders, including care workers, can now get 10% off on their shopping in Morrisons stores
  // Those in the ambulance, police & fire services, the armed forces and veterans, the Red Cross are also eligible
  // 2.3m people are signed up to Blue Light Card & Morrisons’ discount offer is valid until after ChristmasMorrisons has announced that care workers and people who work in emergency services and armed forces are now eligible for a 10 per cent discount on thei
  
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• Very Group hires former BBC tech director as tech chief

  20-11-2020 15:47 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Very Group appoints former BBC tech director Matt Grest as chief information officer
  // Matt Grest will report directly to CEO Henry Birch
  // Very Group is the parent company of online retailers Littlewoods and VeryThe Very Group has appointed BBC’s former digital platforms director Matt Grest as its chief information officer.
  Slated to begin on December 21, Grest will report directly to The Very Group chief executive Henry Birch and will also be part of the retail company’s execu
  
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• Fat Face taps Colin Porter to replace Lord Rose in chairman role

  20-11-2020 15:10 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Fat Face appoints Colin Porter as non-executive chairman
  // He is a former CEO of Joules and also a former chairman of Moss Bros
  // Colin Porter will replace Lord Rose, who stepped down in SeptemberFat Face has reportedly hired Colin Porter to take on the role of non-executive chairman at the lifestyle and fashion retailer.
  According to Drapers, Porter will join Fat Face with immediate effect.READ MORE:Fat Face secures £15m to refinance business
  Fat Face keeps website open to survi
  
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• Top 3 tips for enabling website scanning for in-store and online

  20-11-2020 15:00 via retailgazette.co.uk
  For fashion retailers, the emphasis has shifted from dwell to sell. Shoppers want to get in and out, with less interactions and exposure.
  To nail the sale, you must answer questions about products, whether about sustainability or availability. And people won’t want to wait for answers. So why not turn the smartphone in their pocket into their own personal shopper?
  With self-scanning and AR software, everyday smartphones display product information – price, size, delivery options &nda
  
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• How to solve key retail business challenges

  20-11-2020 15:00 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Effectively managing your retail workforce has become more important than ever in the face of unpredictable demand, increased competition and the need to control operating costs.
  In our latest white paper find out how Workforce Management technology can help retailers with key business challenges such as:
  ● Forecasting customer demand and determining employee supply based on this demand.● Simplifying and automating Employee Scheduling.● Flexibly adjusting employee schedules in
  
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• Black Friday 2020: the best early deals and bargains

  20-11-2020 14:43
  
  Some of the discounts UK retailers such as Tesco, Asda, Argos and Aldi are offeringThe Black Friday sale no longer lasts only a day – retailers have already started discounting in the run-up to 27 November.Here’s a roundup of some of the offers: Continue reading...
  
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• A department store in Middlesbrough fined £17,000 for breaching lockdown rules

  20-11-2020 13:09 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Middlesbrough Council slaps town centre department store with £17,000 in fines for breaching lockdown rules
  // The council did not name the department store, but it’s believed to be TJ Hughes in Captain Cook Square
  // Four town centre phone retailers in Middlesbrough have also received finesA department store in Middlesbrough has closed after it was issued with £17,000 in fines for breaching England’s lockdown rules on non-essential retailers.
  Middlesbrough Council did
  
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• Currys forced to cancel all PS5 orders due to website “loop hole” leaving customers furious

  20-11-2020 12:43 via chargedretail.co.uk
  Currys PC World has apologised to customers after its was forced to cancel the sale of all PlayStation 5 consoles due to an error on its website.
  Customers were left fuming yesterday as attempts to get their hands on a coveted PS5 console descended into chaos, seeing the websites of almost all of the UK’s major retailers selling the console crash.
  Currys was originally due to release its launch day stock for sale at 9am, but informed fans on Twitter at 9:02 that the release was being place
  
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• Aldi more than triples on-demand delivery across the UK

  20-11-2020 11:01 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Aldi is ramping up its on-demand delivery partnership with Deliveroo to nearly 130 stores across the UK.
  The German discounter is once again announcing an expansion of its Deliveroo tie-up, which has seen it offer home grocery delivery for the first time, following huge demand for the service.
  Last month Aldi said it had extended the trial to 42 stores across the UK but it has now more than tripled this number adding an additional 90 stores, making the service more widely available across Scotla
  
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• Europe’s retailers fret over crucial Christmas period as lockdowns bite

  20-11-2020 10:43
  Critical weeks that start with Black Friday can generate up to half of sales
  
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• Northern Ireland to shut non-essential retail amid second lockdown

  20-11-2020 10:29 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Northern Ireland shuts retail and hospitality for two weeks, from Nov 27, to curb spread of Covid
  // It was expected to emerge from a limited circuit-breaker lockdown but infections numbers rose to worrying levels
  // It comes as 11 council areas across Scotland enters lockdown today, and England enters its 3rd week of lockdownNorthern Ireland will shut non-essential retail, pubs and restaurants for two weeks from November 27 to save the health service from becoming swamped.
  The country was po
  
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• UK consumer confidence drops to six-month low for November

  20-11-2020 10:01 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Consumer confidence down two points to -33 for November
  // Respondents said confidence in personal finances fell five points from October
  // GfK: “The second lockdown couldn’t have come at a worse time for the UK’s high-street retailers”Consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest point since May, according to the latest report from GfK.
  The market research firm’s consumer confidence index fell two points to -33 in November, down to its lowest levels since May.
  W
  
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• Mulberry put into offer period after Frasers Group increased stake

  20-11-2020 10:01 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Mulberry now in offer period after Frasers Group raises stake to almost 37%
  // Frasers Group says it is “reserving its right to make a voluntary offer for the company”Mulberry has been placed into an offer period after Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group raised its stake on the luxury brand earlier this week.
  The retail consortium formerly known as Sports Direct International has been steadily increasing its share in the high-end retailer since February when it acquired a 12.5 per c
  
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• UK retail sales rise in October thanks to early Christmas shoppers

  20-11-2020 09:25
  Some consumers bring forward gift buying in advance of the November closure of most non-essential retailers
  
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• Early Christmas shoppers boosted UK retail sales in October, says ONS

  20-11-2020 09:23
  
  Consumers rushing to buy gifts ahead of new lockdown increase sales for sixth month in a rowShoppers rushed to buy early Christmas presents in October, before a second Covid-19 lockdown in England, increasing retail sales for a sixth consecutive month, according to official figures.A 6.4% increase in online sales drove a 1.2% rise in the total volume of retail spending in Britain compared with September and boosted sales by 5.8% on the same month last year. Related: UK national debt highest sinc
  
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• October sales boosted by shoppers stocking up early for Christmas

  20-11-2020 08:55 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Retail sales up almost 6% year-on-year
  // The ONS reports sixth month of consecutive growth for retail sales in October
  // Early Christmas shopping and widespread discounting attributed to autumn boost in salesThe Office for National Statistics (ONS) found retail sales volumes in October rose by 1.2 per cent, marking the sixth consecutive month of growth.
  Retail sales were 5.8 per cent higher than a year before, suggesting that consumers had started their Christmas shopping early this year, t
  
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• Waitrose relaunches its ECOlogical household cleaning range

  20-11-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Waitrose is relaunching its ECOlogical eco friendly household cleaning range with new packaging that will save an estimated 4.1 tonnes of virgin plastic a year. Some... View Article
  
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• Superdrug expands category range to include jewellery

  20-11-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Superdrug has expanded its category offering to include a range of affordable fashion-led jewellery. With prices varying between £3.99 and £9.99, the category has been launched... View Article
  
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• London Designer Outlet to add Radley to its line-up

  20-11-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  London Designer Outlet will be adding accessories retailer Radley to its line-up when it re-opens after lockdown. The brand has taken a 1,440 square foot store... View Article
  
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• Jaeger and Peacocks enter administration

  20-11-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  The Jaeger and Peacocks fashion chains have entered administration after their owner Edinburgh Woollen Mill was unable to find a buyer for the businesses. The news... View Article
  
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• Aldi extends Deliveroo trial to more stores

  20-11-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Aldi has expanded its on-demand delivery trial with Deliveroo to almost 130 Aldi stores across the UK. The move follows an extension to 42 stores last month... View Article
  
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