Retail news

• Profit outlook dents THG as it considers separating Ingenuity arm

  17-09-2024 19:12
  
  Ecommerce group says it is ‘progressing options’ to demerge division
  
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• An ingenious plan to revive THG, or too clever by half? | Nils Pratley

  17-09-2024 19:08
  
  Proposal to ‘demerge’ group’s Ingenuity e-commerce division needs far more clarity to convince stock marketMatthew Moulding has muttered about spin-offs at THG almost from the moment he brought the Lookfantastic and Myprotein e-commerce company, then called the Hut Group, to the stock market four years ago at a princely valuation of £4.5bn.Here comes the first actual proposal, albeit one at a very early stage: there could be a “demerger” of Ingenuity, the divi
  
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• Lush launches The Body Shop-inspired collection

  17-09-2024 16:22 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  Lush has launched a new collection inspired by The Body Shop’s best-selling products.
  The collection is a “fresh take on The Body Shop’s greatest hits” and reformulates more than a dozen of the vegan beauty chain’s top sellers across hair, body, and skincare.
  Lush founder Mark Constantine started his career as a supplier to The Body Shop, which collapsed into administration earlier this year, and worked with founder Anita Roddick on several of the formulations which
  
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• Top 20: Argos unveils top toys for Christmas 2024

  17-09-2024 16:01 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  Argos has revealed its annual list of toys predicted to dominate Christmas wish lists this year.
  The top 20 has been put together after months of analysis by the retail giant’s team of toy experts
  The list features the return of iconic favourites such as Polly Pocket and Furby, with searches for Furby on the chain’s website up by 237% this year.
  Beloved TV characters such as Bluey and Stitch have also made the list, while Argos predicts its Lego Wicked Emerald City and Lego’s D
  
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• Waitrose slashes 250 premium range prices under new £10m investment

  17-09-2024 15:44 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  Waitrose has invested a further £10m into lowering prices across nearly 250 of its No.1 and Duchy organic products, in the first phase of its latest round of price cuts.
  The move takes the supermarket’s total investment in price cuts to £140m over the last 18 months.
  It also marks the sixth time it has slashed prices on hundreds of items since February 2023.
  In April, Waitrose cut the price of more than 200 of its weekly shop products under its commitment to deliver great value
  
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• ‘We don’t want golf just to be for retired guys … it’s for everyone’: Nigel Oddy of American Golf

  17-09-2024 15:00
  
  A post-lockdown surge in interest in the sport should help diversify the clientele both on the greens and in golf shops, says the retail veteranFor most chief executives, a round on the golf course is a quiet Friday afternoon treat after the business of the day is done. For Nigel Oddy, the fairways and bunkers of Britain are his second office as he meets with suppliers to his American Golf stores.The retail veteran has run Europe’s biggest golf retailer since April 2023, reviving a childho
  
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• Tesco plans to expand use of AI to personalise how people shop

  17-09-2024 14:35
  UK’s biggest supermarket says technology may nudge people to buy healthier products and reduce waste
  
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• B&Q owner Kingfisher reports weak demand for kitchens and bathrooms

  17-09-2024 12:37
  Shares in FTSE 100-listed company rise after it reports improved full-year profit forecastBusiness live – latest updatesThe chief executive of Kingfisher, which owns the B&Q and Screwfix chains, has said demand for kitchens and bathrooms in the UK has plateaued but overall sales are showing signs of recovery, as the retail group reported sliding half-year revenues.Thierry Garnier said demand for big-ticket categories had remained weak, in line with the wider market, while sales of seas
  
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• Overcoming doorstep refusal in global sales

  17-09-2024 11:47 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  By Craig Reed, GM Cross-Border at Avalara. The world of e-commerce has long understood the frustrations of cart abandonment. It’s well-reported that the average cart abandonment... View Article
  
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• AllSaints ‘confident as ever’ after posting third year of record results

  17-09-2024 10:23 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  Fashion brand AllSaints has reported another record-breaking performance, as profits surge.
  Operating profit rocketed 40% to £39.9m with EBITDA was up 18%.
  Group sales, which also include New York-based luxury menswear brand John Varvatos, inched up 0.6% to £459.5m, with core brand AllSaints also achieving a 0.6% sales rise to £393.5m.
  The retailer said the strong financial performance was driven by a reduction in promotional and markdown activity, as well as a changing sales m
  
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• Comment: There’s gold in them there archives

  17-09-2024 10:13 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Like many retailers John Lewis has had its fair share of issues to deal with recently but one thing it has that nobody can take away... View Article
  
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• AllSaints celebrates record year

  17-09-2024 10:13 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Fashion retailer AllSaints has celebrated a record year after a strong performance in wholesale, franchise and licensing offset declining revenue at its retail division. In the... View Article
  
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• Carpetright shoppers owed £8m by collapsed flooring chain

  17-09-2024 10:03 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  Carpetright customers are owed almost £8m for outstanding orders at the flooring firm, with the majority of the 21,000 shoppers impacted expected not to be refunded, according to the company directors’ statement of affairs.
  Sources close the situation indicated the final amount of money owed by the collapsed carpet giant was likely to be “considerably” higher, The Times reported.
  Talal Shakerchi, who owns Nestware Holdings, the parent company of Carpetright before its col
  
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• THG confirms demerger of tech division Ingenuity as profits edge up

  17-09-2024 09:59 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  THG is to demerge its technology platform, Ingenuity, as it seeks to maximise shareholder value.
  The firm said it was reviewing potential structures to carry out the demerger, although it had not yet finalised a timescale for the move. Following the demerger, the group would consist of its beauty and nutrition arms.
  The move comes as THG saw its profits nudge up 1.6% for its half year ended 30 June. However, sales were down 1.7% for the period. Related StoryAmazon orders workers back to office f
  
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• B&Q owner Kingfisher profits nudge up despite ‘weak’ big ticket sales

  17-09-2024 09:46 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  B&Q owner Kingfisher profits edged up in its half year despite a dip in sales, as big ticket demand remained “weak”.
  At B&Q, big ticket sales plummeted 11.6% over the period.
  Group sales dipped 1.8% as statutory pre-tax profit nudged up 2.3% to £324m in the six months to 31 July. In its current quarter, like-for-likes have dipped 0.3% to date.
  UK like-for-likes dipped 0.2%, which the DIY giant said was resilient despite weather-impacted seasonal sales. In its French bus
  
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• AllSaints boosted by record year

  17-09-2024 09:42 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Fashion retailer AllSaints has celebrated a record year after a strong performance in wholesale, franchise and licensing offset declining revenue at its retail division. In the... View Article
  
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• [ EVENT ] The Retail Conference 2024

  17-09-2024 09:42 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Join TRB and a host of ecommerce visionaries at ‘THE Retail Conference’. This exciting one-day event has something for everyone. Uniting ecommerce innovators, influencers, and decision makers,... View Article
  
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• Pret A Manger’s global sales surge above £1bn

  17-09-2024 09:34
  
  UK sandwich chain expands in aggressive international sales drive
  
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• Søstrene Grene hails most successful financial year on record

  17-09-2024 09:14 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Søstrene Grene has reported its most successful financial year to date as it continues its expansion across the UK. In the year to 30 April, the... View Article
  
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• Oxford Street to be pedestrianised under Sadiq Khan plans

  17-09-2024 09:11 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  London’s iconic Oxford Street is set to be traffic-free under new plans unveiled by Mayor Sadiq Khan.The move aims to transform the iconic retail street and return it to its former glory as a world-leading shopping destination.
  The pedestrianisation of the mile-long street has been in discussion for a long time and the subject of much objection from Westminster Council. Businesses and residents had previously voiced concerns over the impact of re-routing buses under earlier suggested schem
  
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• Søstrene Grene hails its most successful financial year on record

  17-09-2024 08:51 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Søstrene Grene has reported its most successful financial year to date as it continues its expansion across the UK. In the year to 30 April, the... View Article
  
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• Pret A Manger sales boosted by international expansion

  17-09-2024 08:51 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Pret A Manger has posted a 10% increase in first half sales to £569 million across its company-owned and franchise shops with the growth driven by... View Article
  
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• Amazon orders workers back to office five days per week

  17-09-2024 08:25 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  Amazon has scrapped its hybrid work policy, with staff forced to return to the office five days per week from January.
  Announcing the change in a memo to staff, the ecommerce giant’s CEO Andy Jassy said: “We’ve decided that we’re going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of Covid.”
  The executive insisted that the move would help workers be “better set up to invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other”.
  Amazon
  
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• Amazon orders workers back to office five days a week

  17-09-2024 08:25 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  Amazon has scrapped its hybrid work policy, with staff forced to return to the office five days per week from January.
  Announcing the change in a memo to staff, the ecommerce giant’s CEO Andy Jassy said: “We’ve decided that we’re going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of Covid.”
  The executive insisted that the move would help workers be “better set up to invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other”.
  Amazon
  
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• Scamp & Dude opens biggest store to date in Manchester’s St Ann’s Square

  17-09-2024 08:13 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  The Scamp & Dude fashion brand has opened its second store in Manchester and its sixth retail site in the UK. At 180 square foot metres,... View Article
  
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• Kenji appoints managing director and chair

  17-09-2024 07:41 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Kenji, the home, stationery and gifting retailer, has appointed Eddie Shepherd as managing director and Suzanne Harlow as chair of its recently established advisory board. The... View Article
  
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• Very reimagines retail media with Very Media Group launch

  17-09-2024 01:01 via retailgazette.co.uk
  
  The Very Group, which operates online retailers Very and Littlewoods, has launched Very Media Group, what it terms “a reimagining of its retail media proposition”.
  This initiative, developed in partnership with independent retail media operator SMG, will use the digital group’s extensive customer base and creative expertise to offer brands a retail media platform.
  The Very Group, one of the UK and Ireland’s largest pureplay retailers, has 4.4m active customers and is look
  
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• Traffic to be banned from London’s Oxford Street under Sadiq Khan plan

  17-09-2024 01:01
  
  Mayor to be given power to overrule Westminster council, which blocked previous plan amid concerns over rerouting busesTraffic will be banned from London’s Oxford Street under plans announced by the mayor, Sadiq Khan, using new powers from Labour to push through long-thwarted pedestrianisation of the capital’s famous shopping strip.Khan said urgent action was needed so that the mile-long street could “once again become the leading retail destination in the world.” Continu
  
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• London’s mayor announces plan to pedestrianise Oxford Street

  17-09-2024 01:00
  Sadiq Khan’s proposal argues that famous shopping thoroughfare requires ‘major regeneration’
  
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