Retail Week
April 28 2011
View all stories from this issue.
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A royal opportunity
God bless William and Kate! John Ryan assesses the efforts of retailers around the capital to see who has made the most of the occasion. -
Aldi and Lidl notch up record market shares
Hard discounters Aldi and Lidl and upscale grocer Waitrose were the fastest growing food retailers in the last three months. -
Alexon returns to profit
Fashion group Alexon has returned to full-year profitability and named David Adams chairman. -
Ann Summers to move overseas once global economy improves
Ann Summers is eyeing international markets to expand its lingerie and sex toys business. -
Aquascutum mulling menswear-only stores
Upmarket fashion retailer Aquascutum is understood to be mulling a menswear-only store on London’s Jermyn Street as it seeks to exit its shop on Regent Street. -
Argos down but not out
Is Argos the new Woolies, someone asked last week when parent Home Retail issued prelims showing plunging profits at the catalogue store business. -
Argos pushes new products in a bid to combat tough trading
Multichannel general merchandise giant Argos is to move into new product categories as it chases growth in tough trading conditions, which led to a plunge in profits. -
Aura Riyadh
Aura is a 26,910 sq ft fashion homeware store in Riyadh and acts essentially as a black box in which selected areas are highlighted. -
BDO High Street Sales Tracker
BDO High Street Sales Tracker data for the week ending April 24, 2011 -
Bricks and brands
My last article focused on the transience of retail brands versus the resilience of those in consumer goods (adieu Ratners; re-bonjour Perrier). -
Charles Tyrwhitt, Jermyn Street
Charles Tyrwhitt is a relatively small retailer where the central proposition is men’s shirts. -
Comet staff face redundancy after warehouse closes
Electricals specialist Comet intends to close its national distribution centre in Corby, Northants as part of an efficiency drive. -
Consumer confidence falls to 'worrying' level in April
Consumer confidence fell sharply this month, making the chances of a double dip recession “increasingly real”, according to the GfK NOP. -
Developing your best staff
Training can lift a business no end. Rebecca Thomson learns how it’s helping Liverpool retailers. -
Do the benefits of offering free returns outweigh the costs?
Do the benefits of offering free returns outweigh the costs? -
EBay's global sales soar in Q1 as fashion drives UK sales
EBay’s global sales soared 16% in its first quarter with fashion driving sales in the UK. -
Farmfoods profits soar 30%
Frozen food specialists Farmfoods profits rose 30% in 2010. The retailer’s pre-tax profit for the year ending December 31 2010 leaped to £17m from £13.1m in 2009. -
Give me a reason to shop at your store
The new Best Buy store in Hayes needs to be rather more than simply good-looking. -
How can I find useful online data?
I am getting buried in online data. How can I sort through it all and how do I know what is useful? -
How to add filters
While the screening tool allows for quick comparisons between retailers by sector or sub-sector, a fully customisable list of companies can just as easily be generated by using the various filters available: -
Ideal snapped up as TV shopping catches on
Home shopping group Ideal Shopping Direct is to be sold to private equity firm Inflexion as interest in TV shopping channels increases. -
Inditex builds online with transactional sites
Spanish fashion giant Inditex is to launch transactional websites for its Bershka, Massimo Dutti and Pull and Bear brands in the UK by the end of the year. -
Jacqueline Gold
Despite its latest campaign upsetting M&S, Ann Summers boss Jacqueline Gold has no plans to tone down the retailer’s tongue-in-cheek appeal. -
John Lewis sales up 7.6%, Waitrose up 24.4%
The John Lewis department store chain reported sales up 7.6% in the week to April 23 and sister grocer Waitrose reported a bumper uplift of 24.4% as the UK baked in the Easter sunshine. -
JoJo Maman Bébé sells stake to Tom Singh backed private equity
Maternity retailer JoJo Maman Bébé has sold a minority stake in its business to private equity investors backed by New Look founder Tom Singh. -
Kantar Worldpanel: Clothing, footwear and accessories
The latest Kantar Worldpanel Clothing, footwear and accessories data for the 24 weeks ending March 20 2011 vs 2010 -
Kate Middleton wedding dress replicas to hit the shelves
Alexander McQueen creative director Sarah Burton has said designing Kate Middleton’s wedding dress was “the experience of a lifetime” as replica dresses began to hit the shelves within days of its reveal. -
LK Bennett seeks new chief executive
LK Bennett has appointed head hunters Odgers Berndtson to find a new chief executive. -
Miliband speaks out over supermarket growth
Labour leader Ed Miliband has spoken out against the growth of supermarkets warning it is changing the face of the country. -
Monsoon pre-tax profits triple
Monsoon said that pre-tax profits more than tripled to £98.2m for the year to August 28, 2010, up from £27.9m the previous year. -
Monsoon returns to ethnic roots with store revamp
Monsoon aims to get back to its ethnic-inspired roots with the unveiling of its revamped flagship store on London’s Oxford Street. -
Morrisons extends opening hours
Morrisons has extended its opening hours at the majority of its 440 stores as it seeks to increase sales and productivity. -
Musgrave profits up 3%
Symbol group Musgrave has reported profits up 3% in its full year results, but sales down slightly. -
Peacocks calls on Leighton
Former Asda chief executive Allan Leighton in frame to become chairman of value fashion group. -
Retail sales growth sluggish
Retail sales picked up in April although store groups said the performance was considered poor for the time of year. -
Retail Week and Steria host exclusive breakfast roundtable discussion
Over the past month, Retail Week and Steria have conducted research among retailers into the customer experience they believe they deliver; particularly through their stores and how they see this evolving in the next five years. -
Retailers urged to respond to Red Tape Challenge
More retailers are being urged to respond to the Government’s initiative to scrap unnecessary regulations. -
Royal wedding celebrations cause mixed trade for retail
Wedding gives boost in sales in run-up to April 29 but drop in footfall is predicted on the big day. -
Royal Wedding Windows
Retailers have decked out their stores to celebrate the royal wedding. -
Sainsbury's guns to become top five clothing retailer
Sainsbury’s is gunning to become one of the UK’s top five clothing retailers as it expands its Tu fashion range. -
Shop Direct sets sights on overseas expansion
Etail giant Shop Direct is plotting international expansion for its Very and Isme brands, and is to grow its Littlewoods brand outside Europe. -
Sports Direct stock rises despite tough trading
City confidence that Sports Direct will achieving its £215m EBITDA target in 2012 rose following a 7.3% jump in gross profits despite tough trading conditions. -
St James' in London to be transformed into 'eclectic shopping destination'
London’s upmarket St James’ area is to be given a makeover as part of landlord Crown Estate’s £500m regeneration programme to transform it into an “eclectic shopping destination”. -
Staff cuts planned despite rise in retail employment
Retail employment edged up 0.5% in the first quarter of 2011 - the equivalent of 3,400 more full-time jobs - but almost one third of retailers expect to cut staffing levels in the current quarter. -
Steinhoff UK devolves authority in restructure
Furniture giant Steinhoff UK is restructuring the group into separate businesses, resulting in the scrapping of the Steinhoff UK chief executive role. -
Stuart Lewis
Stuart Lewis, Managing director, Lombok. -
Sunday trading laws are not sustainable
Politicians have long talked about reducing retail regulation, but the Government’s Red Tape Challenge is the first sign of action. -
Tesco ditches its 'double the difference' online price promise
Tesco has ditched its double the difference price promise from its online price checker blaming a “cottage industry” of determined shoppers who have exploited the system. -
Tesco shares down but brokers confident
Grocery and general merchandise giant Tesco edged down as the market digested the first set of results delivered by new boss Phil Clarke. -
Tesco to rein in category growth with home focus
Tesco group chief executive Phil Clarke has signalled that the retailer’s non-food, non-fashion offer will focus on product for the home and garden rather than further experimentation with items such as gold and cars. -
Tesco’s candour impresses City
The City was impressed with Tesco chief executive Phil Clarke last week when he delivered his first full-year results, although sales slipped slightly by 1.28% on the day. -
Tesco's US launch "foolhardy" says investor Warren Buffett
Tesco has been urged by investor and America’s most revered businessman Warren Buffett to take a hard look at its struggling Fresh & Easy business in the US. -
Thorntons warns on profits
Thorntons’ own store sales like-for-likes fell 12.6% in its third quarter and the chocolatier warned on profits. -
Transformation takes time
Retailers should look on today’s tough market as an opportunity, says Sir Geoff Mulcahy. -
Turning website traffic into footfall
Some blame online and mobile shopping for stealing customers who’d normally go to stores. But Rebecca Thomson finds that clever retailers are using modern channels to their shops’ advantage. -
Tying the retail knot
Wills and Kate tie the knot tomorrow, and in keeping with the fervour we take a look back at some of the most notable marriages of retail businesses over the years. Have these unions stood the test of time or did they decide to go their separate ways? Charlotte Hardie finds out. -
Wade-Gery to join Marks & Spencer in July
Laura Wade-Gery will take up her role as Marks & Spencer’s multichannel ecommerce director on July 4. -
Waterstone's: no deal this week, no year-end deadline
Any deal to sell Waterstones to Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut is unlikely this week, and could be several weeks off, according to sources familiar with the situation. -
What it's like to work at Ocado
The inside view from head of HR Julie Markey. -
What's big in 2011?
What is the state of UK retail in early 2011? That’s what Retail Week sought to find out with Retail 2011, the authoritative analysis of UK retail today. In this extract from the report, we look at the key themes that emerge.
