Retail Week
September 2 2011
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Creating better stores
Clinton Cards is changing its management and stores, but there is much to be done. -
Morrisons to post profits rise
Morrisons is expected to report interim underlying pre-tax profits up to about £437m on Thursday, an increase from £410m last year. -
A little local difficulty
The Co-op is lagging behind its grocery rivals, following the takeover of Somerfield. Chief executive Peter Marks tells Jennifer Creevy why he thinks his critics are missing the point -
A tough four months to Christmas lie ahead
It’s the time of year when the holiday season comes to an end, and the focus across retail turns to Christmas. Unusually there’s been no shortage of retail news in August this year. The problem is it’s mostly been bad. -
ACS calls on Mary Portas to protect town centres
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has challenged the government’s high street adviser Mary Portas to take decisive action to protect independent retailers ahead of her review. -
Ahold operating income drops
Ahold saw operating income drop 4.9% to E719m (£634.5m) in the first half of 2011. Net sales reached E16.1bn (£14.2bn), up 1.7% in comparison with the same period in 2010. In the second quarter, net sales dropped 3.5% to E6.9bn (£6.1bn). Ahold’s US operations saw net sales increase by 6.5% to $13.4bn (£11.8bn) in the first half. In the Netherlands, they grew 3.9% to E5.7bn (£5bn).The results come in the same week that Ahold announced plans to enter the German market in the second half of 2012 -
Amazon to launch order collection lockers in UK shopping centres
Amazon is poised to launch order collection lockers in London shopping centres, Retail Week has learnt, in what will be the etail giant’s first physical manifestation in UK retail. -
Analysts confident the only way is up for retail shares
Analysts believe store stocks are unlikely to crash further, despite big-name retail shares plunging last week, when specialist Topps Tiles also issued a profit warning. -
Aurum halts sale process until 2012
The sale of jewellery group Aurum has been postponed until the new year as the management team focuses its efforts on the crucial Christmas trading period. -
Austin Reed Regent Street store to represent 'brand vision for future'
Austin Reed promises to “reignite the spirit of British heritage tailoring” with its new flagship store in Regent Street. -
Big names suffer amid tough trading concerns
Shop stocks were out of favour in the wake of a profit warning from Topps Tiles, with bearish notes on some of the sector’s biggest names and general heebie-jeebies about trading. -
Burberry switches marketing spend into digital media
Luxury fashion group Burberry now allocates 60% of its marketing budget to digital media – more than three times the average. -
Clinton asks landlords to stagger September rent
Greetings cards specialist Clinton Cards has asked landlords if it can pay its September rent in stages to ensure smooth cashflow. -
Coast returns to its occasionwear roots and shows off new format
Fashion chain Coast is to go back to its occasionwear roots as it launches a new store format to attract a wider audience. -
Coffee shops and retail
Coffee shops may not be footfall drivers, but they increase dwell time. How can retailers best add them to their mix, asks John Ryan -
Comet sale decision looms as Kesa prepares for AGM
Kesa chiefs are expected to decide within a few days whether to proceed with a sale of electricals retailer Comet, following the submission of second-round bids today. -
Countrywide launches own-brand value offer
Rural specialist Countrywide is to launch a value range to enhance its appeal to shoppers and protect margin during tough trading conditions. -
Debenhams claims retail world-first with smartphone innovation
Department store group Debenhams has claimed a retail world-first after deploying innovative smartphone technology to bring print ads to life. -
Dobbies, Peterborough
There are moments when it’s a little easy to be somewhat cynical about the green movement and its retail manifestations, but the eco department in Dobbies’ new garden centre in Peterborough goes some way towards restoring flagging faith. -
Dutch convenience stores to test the German waters
Dutch retailer Ahold has announced that it is planning to expand in Germany and open its first store there in the second half of 2012. -
Electricals drive weekly sales rise at John Lewis
Sales at department store chain John Lewis rose 1.4% last week to £58.6m, when electricals and home technology was once again the top performing category. -
Former HoF brand director moves to travel retailer
Matt Chambers, former executive brand director at House of Fraser, has been hired by travel retailer Aldeasa-WDF. -
Gap to open in Vietnam and Guam
Gap has announced plans to open its first stores in Vietnam and Guam through its franchise channel. In Vietnam, the first two Gap stores will open in Ho Chi Minh City this October followed by Hanoi in 2012.Banana Republic will make its debut in late 2012. The first Gap store will open in Guam in 2012 as part of an existing franchise agreement with Casual Clothing Specialist. -
H&M brand Monki launches in UK
H&M-owned quirky girls brand Monki launches in the UK today with a concession in department store Selfridges’ Oxford Street store. -
High Street Fund raises further half a million
Energy giant Shell has donated £500,000 to the High Street Fund set up to support businesses affected by the riots in August. -
Home Depot to roll out click and collect
Home Depot is to roll out its Buy Online, Pickup In-Store service across its US stores during the third quarter of 2011. The service currently runs in around 100 Home Depot stores. The move is in line with the retailers’s stated focus on “interconnected retail”, based on the view that providing a seamless shopping experience across multiple channels will be key for future success. In addition to rolling out the new service, Android and Windows Mobile smartphone apps are being developed to enh -
Homebase brings its best offer to the table
Homebase has launched a premium homewares brand as part of an overhaul of the DIY retailer’s homewares offering that includes a spring launch of the Habitat brand. -
How can we stop this ‘carry on regardless’ culture?
You’d be forgiven recently for believing we’d been transported back to the early 1940s. -
Iceland staff to share record £14.6m pay rise
Iceland staff are to share a £14.6m pay increase from next month in a rare piece of good news for the retail sector. -
In pictures: Selfridges windows go product-free
Selfridges Oxford Street has launched The Museum of Everything show with art across its whole frontage. -
In pictures: Westfield Stratford - 2 weeks to go
A look at the the new Westfield Stratford shopping centre in East London before it opens on 13 September. -
JJB directors to be rewarded on turnaround success
JJB directors are to be incentivised with a reward scheme if they succeed in turning around the fortunes of the ailing sports retailer. -
John Lewis’s name spreads overseas
Thanks to Barracuda’s Jamie Zuppinger for this picture of the John Lewis store on Newbury Street in Boston, Massachusetts. -
John Lovering named chairman of Maplin
Veteran dealmaker John Lovering has been appointed non-executive chairman of Maplin, the electricals specialist owned by Montagu Private Equity. -
Leahy: 'no danger of double-dip recession'
Britain is not heading for a double-dip recession, former Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy believes. -
Marks & Spencer strengthens brand marketing team
Marks & Spencer has bolstered its marketing team to help achieve chief executive Marc Bolland’s aim of turning some of its ‘labels into real brands’. -
Mercator reports first-half revenue of €1.4bn
Mercator has reported first-half revenue of €1.4bn (£1.24bn), up 6.1% year-on-year. Net profit grew by 4.9% to €18.5m (£16.3m). The company’s measures for the period included lowering the prices of more than 2,000 products, which required an investment of almost €12m (£10.6m). The sales area of the company’s operations grew by more than 333,680 sq ft, almost half of which was due to expansion in Serbia. Mercator is continuing to develop supplementary services, having moved into forecourt stat -
Morrisons downgraded despite outperforming
Broker Oriel has downgraded Morrisons ahead of the grocer’s interims next Thursday. -
Morrisons profits up 8%
Morrisons has reported an 8% rise in underlying profit in its interim results to £442m but warned the trading environment would continue to be challenging. -
Nakumatt outlines expansion plans
Kenyan market leader Nakumatt has announced plans to expand into wider Sub-Saharan countries within the next five years. Managing director Atul Shah said: “We have now embarked on a feasibility study to facilitate our entry to such countries as Burundi, Zambia, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Botswana and Malawi.”Nakumatt already operates cross-border stores in Rwanda and Uganda, while the opening of the first store in Tanzania is in the preparation stage. -
Next launches apprenticeship programme
Next has launched an apprenticeship programme, set to recruit 1,000 new employees. -
Nordstrom to invest £229m in technology
Nordstrom will spend $375m (£229m) or 15% of its planned capital expenditure on improving its technology up to 2016. The money will be primarily used for ecommerce. Chief financial officer Michael Koppel said: “Unlike investments in store expansion, investments to improve ecommerce tend to impact the profit and loss numbers quicker than store projects because of the larger portion expensed versus capitalised.”President Blake Nordstrom said: “Direct is our fastest-growing part of the bu -
OFT decision on Amazon's acquisition of Book Depository delayed
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has delayed its decision on whether to refer Amazon’s acquisition of rival Book Depository to the Competition Commission. -
Oracle Retail Week Awards 2012 now open for entries
The Oracle Retail Week Awards 2012 are now open for entries. The Awards - the biggest event in the retail calendar - will be held on March 15 next year at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. -
Put your best foot forward online
With so much choice on the web, retailers must give people a reason to pick them, says David Wild -
Retail analyst Tony Shiret to join RBS
Tony Shiret, one of retail’s highly regarded analysts and a vocal critic of Marks & Spencer under Sir Stuart Rose, is to take up a new role at Royal Bank of Scotland. -
Retail sales hold up in August, despite riots
Last month’s riots in English cities had little impact on retail sales, which edged down 0.6% like-for-like during August. -
Sainsbury’s reignites its graduate scheme to seek out 2020 leaders
Sainsbury’s has relaunched its graduate programme, taking on fewer graduates but with the aim of promoting them more quickly to senior roles. -
Sainsbury's poaches group property director from Dixons
Sainsbury’s has poached Dixons group property director Philip Bell-Brown to become its director of property development. -
Sainsbury's to recruit 15,000 Christmas staff
Sainsbury’s is to recruit 15,000 seasonal staff over the Christmas and New Year period. -
Selfridges Manchester revamps beauty hall as part of £20m store investment
Selfridges in Manchester has revamped its beauty and accessories hall as part of a £20m investment into the store. -
Shopper’s thrifty approach is just pants
Marks & Spencer’s pants are considered by millions to be the best, and some people will go to great lengths to keep them safe. -
Simply Be to open first bricks-and-mortar store
Home shopping group N Brown is to open its first bricks-and-mortar store for its plus-size brand Simply Be at Liverpool One on September 22. -
Sue Townsend
Passionate about retail, the former Blackwell commercial director has taken on the challenge of resurrecting the three times failed fashion retailer Ethel Austin. Nicola Harrison reports. -
Superdrug launches loyalty card roadshow
Superdrug is following in the footsteps of Cliff Richard and spending its summer aboard a London Routemaster. -
Susanne Akil
Scottish regional chair, Specsavers -
Templeman exits Debenhams as Sharp takes over the hot seat
Rob Templeman formally hands over the reins at department store group Debenhams on Monday, when he will be succeeded as chief executive by Michael Sharp. -
Tesco to sell Japanese stores but stand by Fresh & Easy
Philip Clarke still backing plans to turn American chain around, but Japanese business is up for sale. -
The dark before the dawn
Retail Week gave its edition of August 12 the strapline ‘Retail’s Darkest Week’. This may turn out to be not too much of an exaggeration, but because of more than riots. -
Time to make a judgement call
Two of the retailers most mauled by the bears update next week, electricals group Dixons and Argos owner Home Retail. -
Topps’ tumble spells trouble for sector
Analysts warned that Topps Tiles’ profit warning last week could signal weak trading for the wider home-related retail sector. -
Trading fears as festive countdown kicks off
Retailers cautiously optimistic for Christmas sales, but deep fears about the run-up persist. -
Uniqlo launches Twitter competition
Japanese fashion chain Uniqlo has launched a Twitter competition giving eagle-eyed Londoners the chance to win sweaters if they can spot the sheep it has hidden. -
Value fashion online
Primark has quashed reports it is launching a transactional website. We examine the pros and cons of making such as move -
Waitrose appoints executive chef
Waitrose has appointed Michelin chef Jonathan Moore as its executive chef. -
Walmsley Furnishing bought by SKG Capital
UPDATED: Parts of furniture chain Walmsley Furnishing, which collapsed into administration yesterday, have been acquired by turnaround specialist SKG Capital. -
We’ve made a mistake that has impacted sales. How do we recover?
We’ve made a significant mistake with our customer proposition that has impacted sales and profitability. How do we recover the situation? -
White Stuff pushes ‘community’ retail
Lifestyle fashion retailer White Stuff is launching initiatives such as Swap Shops and Book Clubs as it aims to maintain footfall and make its stores community hubs. -
Williams-Sonoma revenue up 5.1%
Home furnishings retailer Williams-Sonoma has reported net revenues up 5.1% to $815m (£498m) for the second quarter ended July 31. Net earnings were up 4.8% to $39m (£24m). The consolidated revenues were driven by a strong comparable brand growth rate, a measure that includes both like-for-like net revenues and total direct-to-customer net revenues of 28.6% at West Elm, 20.4% at PB Teen and 8% at Pottery Barn Kids. The company’s direct-to-consumer channel rose 13%. President and chief executi -
Woolworths predicts tough future
Woolworths has released its full-year financial results and sees tough times ahead despite gains during the year. In the year up to June 26, net sales increased 4.7% including petrol (4.1% excluding petrol) to Aus$54.14bn (£34.62bn). Net profit rose 5.1% to Aus$2.12bn (£1.36bn) up from the previous year’s Aus$2.02bn (£1.29bn).However, Woolworths predicted that weak consumer confidence would keep trading subdued in the next financial year. Retiring chief executive Michael Luscomb
