All articles by George MacDonald – Page 279
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News
More mixed fortunes as grocers outshine ailing general market
A welter of trading updates brought mixed news. Although retailers such as Game and Dunelm impressed, general retailers remained unpopular.
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News
High street sales climb in September
Retailers weathered toughening high street conditions to post a sales rise in September, but the slower rate of growth experienced since May continued.
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News
Reliance to lay off 1,000 as opposition to modern retail mounts
Indian giant Reliance Retail is to lay off 1,000 staff in the face of continuing protests by small business owners who fear that the emergence of modern retailers threatens their livelihoods.
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News
Topps Tiles calls strong year ahead of results
Like-for-like sales expected to rise 4.6% at the home improvement retailer, while sales are tipped to increase 15%
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News
Abercrombie London sales beat US flagship
US fashion group Abercrombie & Fitch’s debut UK store is generating higher sales and margins than its flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue. The London shop, which opened in March, was greeted with scepticism by some industry observers because of higher prices charged than in the US, its unusual ...
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Opinion
Northern Rock fiasco a bad sign
The sight of scared consumers queuing up in their thousands to withdraw their cash from troubled Northern Rock might turn out to be almost as bad news for retailers as it was for the bank.Savers have withdrawn about£2 billion, fearful of losing everything despite reassuring statements from the Government and ...
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News
Debt crunch may sting profits, analysts warn
Brokers warned that the ongoing corporate lending crisis could take a slice of retailers’ profits if debt market turmoil continues. As the Bank of England stepped in to keep Northern Rock bank afloat, analysts tried to gauge the impact of tightening credit terms on the finances of store groups. Kaupthing ...
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News
Debenhams: the city view
There were sighs of relief in the Square Mile when Debenhams’ 52-week update brought no nasty surprises. Although like-for-likes fell 5 per cent and gross margin was down, profit forecasts will be met. Chief executive Rob Templeman flagged a more challenging retail environment, but said: “We believe the actions we ...
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News
City fears Northern Rock fiasco will erode consumer confidence
Cold weather will be better news for fashion retailers that suffered during the wet summer, but fears mounted that the consumer climate may turn truly arctic. The Northern Rock crisis could be the catalyst for shoppers to snap their purses shut. That fear was reflected in the general retail sector’s ...
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News
Tesco invests £25m in sustainable consumption research
Findings to be shared with other retailers
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Opinion
Christmas crunch here we come
Now that the August bank holiday is out of the way and a torrid summer, in business terms, is coming to an end, what is the outlook for the sector as the year winds down?The back-to-school offensive is in full swing and Halloween is still to come but, from here ...
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News
Stores shares on the up as City readies for key updates
The whole stores sector – grocers and general merchandisers – was up last week and beat the All Share index, although general retailers continued to underperform against last year. The rise was driven partly by optimism about particular companies, such as Next (see opposite), as a raft of big retailers ...