Retail news

• Foot traffic drops by half at US stores on ‘Grey Friday’

  28-11-2020 22:38
  Department store crisis deepens as older shoppers shun malls for fear of Covid-19
  
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• Tony Hsieh, 'visionary' behind Zappos shoe retailer, dies aged 46

  28-11-2020 19:57
  
  The Illinois-born entrepreneur, who helped revitalize downtown Las Vegas, died ‘peacefully’ after being injured in a house fireTony Hsieh, the “visionary” developer of online shoe retailer Zappos who spearheaded the transformation of downtown Las Vegas in recent years, has died at the age of 46.According to his lawyer Puoy Premsrirut, Hsieh was injured in a house fire in Connecticut while visiting relatives over Thanksgiving. He died on Friday “peacefully and surrou
  
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• UK supermarkets unite after Sainsbury's advert prompts racist backlash

  28-11-2020 17:58
  
  Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Lidl, Marks & Spencers, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose run ads back-to-back on Channel 4
  A group of leading UK supermarkets have joined together to take a stand against a racist online backlash that followed Sainsbury’s Christmas advertisement featuring a black family.Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Lidl, Marks & Spencers, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose ran their adverts back-to-back during two primetime slots on Channel 4 on Friday evening, wi
  
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• Philip Green's empire was doomed by failure to move with the times

  28-11-2020 17:00
  
  The businessman was all about glamour, when investment in his brands and internet technology was what was neededFor nearly two decades Sir Philip Green has been Britain’s most famous, or perhaps infamous, shopkeeper, with a store on every major UK high street and in every shopping centre. But with his stricken Arcadia fashion empire expected to enter administration this week, the fashion group’s problems could mark the end of an era for the controversial businessman – and anoth
  
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• Fears for pensions as Philip Green's Arcadia faces collapse

  28-11-2020 15:34
  
  Members could lose a tenth of their payout as the Topshop owner prepares to call in administrators after coronavirus shutdownsLabour and the Unite union have called on Sir Philip Green to ensure his retail empire’s pension scheme is fully funded if administrators are called in.Arcadia Group, which owns Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Evans, Outfit and Burton, is set to seek protection from creditors after months of Covid shutdowns exacerbated existing problems at the fash
  
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• 'Christmas slots went in five hours': how online supermarket Ocado became a lockdown winner

  28-11-2020 13:00
  
  For years, it never made a profit – despite having bigger warehouses and better tech than its rivals. Post Covid-19, can Ocado go global? Ocado’s warehouse in Erith, 15 miles east of London on the Thames estuary, is staffed by 1,050 “personal shoppers”. Outnumbering them are 1,800 robots the size of small washing machines.You see them by climbing to the top level of the vast warehouse – at 564,000 sq ft, it is more than three times the size of St Peter’s in Ro
  
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• The Entertainer gives staff 3 days off over Christmas & Boxing Day weekend

  28-11-2020 09:30 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // The Entertainer to give staff three “free days” to celebrate Christmas long weekend with loved ones
  // This means the retailer will close on Christmas Eve and re-opening on Monday, December 28The Entertainer has announced plans to give its staff a three day break over the Christmas and Boxing Day long weekend.
  This means the toy retailer will close all 171 of its stores at the end of the day on Christmas Eve, which falls on a Thursday this year, and won’t re-open until Monda
  
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• Family-run Worcester retailer Cornucopia named Britain’s best small shop of the year

  28-11-2020 09:00 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Cornucopia, a family-run independent retailer in Worcester, named Britain’s best small shop of 2020
  // The Best Small Shops competition is managed by the Independent Retailers ConfederationA family-run home and gift retailer has been named Britain’s best small shop of 2020.
  Cornucopia, based in Worcester, stocks British brands as well as products with a Danish influence that originated with the business founders.
  During lockdown it opened its Trouva boutique online, with mother-an
  
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