Retail news

• Currys accelerates B2B push

  11-08-2025 10:23 via theretailbulletin.com
  Currys is accelerating its push into the small business technology market through a rebrand and expansion of its B2B division, Currys Business. The move follows significant... View Article
  
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• UK private equity investor plots closure of up to 80 former WHSmith stores

  02-03-2026 19:54 via ft.com
  Modella rebranded high street shops as TG Jones after buying them last year
  
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• Rituals launches four boutiques in continued retail expansion

  02-03-2026 18:55 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Rituals is opening four new boutiques, marking a “significant milestone” in its UK and IE expansion strategy.
  The luxury wellbeing brand is launching its first new boutique in Wilton Shopping Centre in Cork on 4 March.
  The opening will be followed by arrivals in Whitewater Shopping Centre in Newbridge, Kildare; London, Wimbledon; and Taunton on 11 March.Related Story Saks Global issued final approval for bankruptcy funding23/02/2026 x 10:05 AMThe launches come as Rituals reaffirms it
  
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• Tilray acquires BrewDog in £33m deal

  02-03-2026 18:54 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Tilray Brands has acquired BrewDog in a £33m deal aimed at creating a global craft beer and beverage platform worth around $500m in annual revenue.
  The transaction includes BrewDog’s global brand and intellectual property, its UK brewing operations and 11 pubs across the UK and Ireland: Birmingham, Canary Wharf, Dogtap Ellon, Dublin, Edinburgh DogHouse, Lothian Road, Manchester, Paddington, Seven Dials, Tower Hill and Waterloo.
  It is understood Tilray is also separately negotiat
  
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• Wickes launches retail media platform for home improvement brands

  02-03-2026 16:25 via theretailbulletin.com
  Wickes has launched a new retail media network that goes live with both onsite and offsite capabilities. The home improvement retailer said Wickes Connected Retail Media... View Article
  
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• £2.1bn of grocery sales at risk due to out-of-stock products, warns DHL

  02-03-2026 16:00 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Product availability has overtaken price as the biggest driver of customer loyalty in UK grocery retail, with stock-outs putting an estimated £2.1bn in sales at risk, according to new research from DHL supply chain and Retail Economics.
  The new report, titled ‘The Availability Effect: Why trust, margin and loyalty start at the shelf edge’, draws on in-store audits, a survey of 2,000 UK households and economic modelling to assess the scale and behavioural impact of stock ga
  
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• Your Customers Have Already Moved. Has Your Brand?

  02-03-2026 14:31 via theretailbulletin.com
  Commentary By Sreeraman MG, Co-Founder, Fynd Every major technology shift in retail has come with the same quiet reassurance: there’s time. Omnichannel took years to mature.... View Article
  
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• TG Jones owner appoints advisers to draw up restructuring plan for retailer

  02-03-2026 13:40 via retailgazette.co.uk
  TG Jones owner Modella Capital has appointed advisers from Teneo to put together a restructuring plan designed to put the stationery retailer on a more sustainable footing.
  The move, which comes less than a year after Modella took over the company, is set to lead to concerns over another series of store closures and job cuts at the business.
  It is understood that around 80 TG Jones stores out of a total of roughly 480 are most at risk after a period of tough trading, according to the Telegraph.R
  
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• Dr Martens chief product officer departs

  02-03-2026 13:35 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Dr Martens chief product officer Adam Meek has departed from the shoe retailer after four years.
  The exec joined the business in December 2021, after a two year stint at Canadian outerwear and clothing retailer Canada Goose.
  Meek also worked for Nike from December 2014 to December 2015 as its director of merchandising sportswear.Related Story Global supply chain volatility pushes sports brand On to open robot-centric South Korean factory26/02/2026 x 8:53 AMPosting on LinkedIn, Meek said: “
  
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• ISBA responds to consultation on protecting children on social media

  02-03-2026 13:31 via retailgazette.co.uk
  The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) has welcomed the launch of the UK government’s consultation on measures to protect children on social media.
  The consultation was published today (2 March) and asks for views from parents, carers, young people, those who work with children, civil society organisations, academics and industry. It will run for three months, until 26 May.
  This follows the release of Molly vs. the Machines, a documentary about Molly Russell, a young teenag
  
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• Online now driving major retailers’ strategies

  02-03-2026 13:16 via theretailbulletin.com
  News that Tesco is rejigging its head office functions in order to focus greater attention on its digital operations looks very similar to the moves that... View Article
  
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• Tesco breathes new life into ‘Every Little Helps’ slogan

  02-03-2026 13:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  Tesco has breathed new life into its ‘Every Little Helps’ slogan with the launch of a new brand platform that asks “Need Anything From Tesco?”. The... View Article
  
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• Wickes connects UK businesses with ‘home-improvement’ audience

  02-03-2026 12:23 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Wickes has unveiled a new media network designed to connect brands with the UK’s “home-improvement audience”.
  The platform, titled ‘Wickes Connected Retail Media’, was developed in partnership with Epsilon and is powered by the marketing agency’s COREid identity graph.
  Gary Kibble, chief marketing and digital officer at Wickes, said: “We’re proud to launch Wickes Connected Retail Media in partnership with Epsilon, a major step forward for our busin
  
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• ‘Parcel anxiety’: InPost CEO warns delivery failures are now systemic in UK retail

  02-03-2026 11:44 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Missed parcel deliveries have become a structural issue in UK ecommerce, with consumers facing ‘parcel anxiety’ after losing hours each month waiting in for orders that often fail to arrive the first time, according to new research from InPost UK.
  The study by the parcel locker giant found that one in three parcels fails on the first delivery attempt, despite near-universal parcel usage across the UK. Four in ten consumers miss at least one delivery every month, while 83% report expe
  
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• Delivery failures are now ‘systemic’ in UK retail, says InPost CEO

  02-03-2026 11:44 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Missed parcel deliveries have become a structural issue in UK ecommerce, with consumers facing ‘parcel anxiety’ after losing hours each month waiting in for orders that often fail to arrive the first time, according to new research from InPost UK.
  The study by the parcel locker giant found that one in three parcels fails on the first delivery attempt, despite near-universal parcel usage across the UK. Four in ten consumers miss at least one delivery every month, while 83 per cent rep
  
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• WATCH: Sofology celebrates fussiness in new campaign film

  02-03-2026 11:22 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Furniture retailer Sofology has unveiled a new campaign film celebrating those “who know exactly what they want”.
  The spot, devised by creative agency TBWA\MCR, is part of the firm’s ‘So Fussy, Sofology’ brand platform. It follows on from the brand’s ‘New Pet’ activation, which was launched in September.
  It’s new spot reframes fussiness as a “positive trait” and follows an ice-cream vendor who pays close attention to detail.
  James
  
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• John Lewis gears up to buy back Waitrose supermarkets

  02-03-2026 11:20 via retailgazette.co.uk
  John Lewis is gearing up to buy back some of its Waitrose supermarkets under a renewed retail push.
  Bosses are looking into the option of buying out landlords after building up £1.5bn in cash, as they remain confident that the retailer’s turnaround is progressing, the Telegraph reported. 
  It remains unclear how many Waitrose stores the department store chain wants to buy back. However, a senior source said that the company was taking an “opportunistic” approach. 
  
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• [Interview] Navigating AI with Confidence: Sam Haslam Director at WTW Risk & Resilience Advisory

  02-03-2026 09:49 via theretailbulletin.com
  Artificial intelligence is accelerating through the retail sector at extraordinary pace, creating unprecedented opportunities alongside new layers of risk. Many retail leaders are now asking not... View Article
  
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• Bensons for Beds delivers best EBITDA performance since 2019

  02-03-2026 09:38 via theretailbulletin.com
  Bensons for Beds has delivered its strongest profitability since it was acquired in 2019. It has also reported sustained sales growth and market share gains despite... View Article
  
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• Urban Outfitters to join line-up at Lakeside

  02-03-2026 09:30 via theretailbulletin.com
  Urban Outfitters is to join the line-up at Lakeside Shopping Centre this summer. Situated on the lower level, the 6,500 square foot space will offer the... View Article
  
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• Shoppers fuel charity shop revival as Vinted and Depop reshape UK resale market

  02-03-2026 08:51 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Young shoppers inspired by resale platforms such as Vinted and Depop are helping UK charity shops outperform the wider retail sector, despite mounting cost pressures on the high street.
  According to the Charity Retail Association (CRA), charity shop sales rose 1.4 per cent last year, ahead of the 1.1 per cent increase recorded across non-food retail by the British Retail Consortium.
  Save the Children reported a 3 per cent uplift in retail sales, including an 11 per cent surge in December alone,
  
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• Oil shock fears as strait of Hormuz disruption threatens UK retail recovery

  02-03-2026 08:34 via retailgazette.co.uk
  The escalating conflict in the Middle East has sent oil markets into turmoil, with Brent crude spiking by as much as 13 per cent in early trading amid fears that the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz could be effectively closed.
  With around 20 per cent of the world’s oil and seaborne gas supplies passing through the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, any sustained disruption risks triggering a fresh inflationary wave just as the retail sector had begun to see cost pressures ease.
  Wh
  
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• Oil shock fears as Middle East disruption threatens UK retail recovery

  02-03-2026 08:34 via retailgazette.co.uk
  The escalating conflict in the Middle East has sent oil markets into turmoil, with Brent crude spiking by as much as 13 per cent in early trading amid fears that the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz could be effectively closed.
  With around 20 per cent of the world’s oil and seaborne gas supplies passing through the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, any sustained disruption risks triggering a fresh inflationary wave just as the retail sector had begun to see cost pressures ease.
  Wh
  
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• Young fashion fans help UK charity shops thrive on struggling UK high streets

  01-03-2026 11:00
  Sales beat wider retail sector last year thanks to customers inspired by websites such as Vinted, industry body saysYoung people inspired by secondhand fashion websites such as Vinted and Depop are helping charity shops thrive despite rising energy and employment costs.Save the Children’s retail sales rose 3% last year, helped by a surge in December when the charity rang up 11% more than the same month a year before, raising more than £1m for its causes. Continue reading...
  
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• Japanese retailers wrestle with Chinese tourist boycott

  01-03-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Department stores among those hit by double-digit drop in duty-free sales in recent months
  
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• Waitrose to stop selling mackerel due to overfishing

  27-02-2026 19:37 via theretailbulletin.com
  Waitrose is to suspend sales of mackerel products amid concerns around overfishing. The supermarket will stop sourcing fresh, chilled, and frozen mackerel by 29 April, although... View Article
  
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• Train better: Top learning management system for retail​

  27-02-2026 16:42 via theretailbulletin.com
  Retail moves fast: your training should too. By using the right Learning Management System for retail, you can support retail training and development and help your... View Article
  
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• Quiz slashes prices further as it ramps up clearance drive

  27-02-2026 16:07 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Quiz Clothing is rolling out deeper discounts across its estate, as its joint administrators continue to assess options for the business.
  Further markdowns have now been applied across all categories in a bid to drive footfall and clear remaining inventory.
  Boots are being discounted by at least 50 per cent, while all other footwear is reduced by a minimum of 40 per cent. Dresses, handbags and accessories are now at least 30 per cent off, with the remainder of the range reduced by no less than 2
  
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• Hiding in plain sight: everyone from Meghan to the Beckhams wants a funnel neck

  27-02-2026 16:00
  Popped collar worn by Duchess of Sussex and Rama Duwaji is rising in popularity, with searches at John Lewis up 1,000%Shoppers are avidly searching for jackets that cover half your face – so much that searches are up 1,000% year on year at John Lewis.The funnel-neck jacket is boxy, generously cut and comes with a permanently popped collar, between 9cm and 14cm high running from clavicle to nose; high enough to cover your mouth, low enough to see out – just. Continue reading...
  
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• Learning and development in the retail industry

  27-02-2026 15:03 via theretailbulletin.com
  Learning and development (L&D) in the retail industry has become one of the most important strategic elements; it is a way for retailers to deal with... View Article
  
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