Like-for-like sales rose 3.9 per cent, driven by sales of clothing and DIY and gardening equipment because of mild, sunny weather. This was compared with a slide of 1.4 per cent for the same month last year

IN THE NEWS
US bookseller Borders put its 72-store UK business up for sale, saying it wanted to focus on its US business as the “key to future growth”.

Boots, DSGi and Marks & Spencer were three of more than 25 high street retailers that pledged to reduce their plastic bag usage by 25 per cent by the end of 2008.

Marks & Spencer chief executive Stuart Rose caused a frisson at the Retail Week conference with the comment “Watch this space” when asked if M&S would bid for Sainsbury’s. M&S ruled out the possibility a week later.

HMV chief executive Simon Fox unveiled his vision for a new HMV, including a fresh store format, a tie-up with phone operator 3 and a centralised distribution system.

Morrisons chief executive Marc Bolland unveiled his£450 million modernisation plan for the retailer, including a review of store operations, IT infrastructure, logo and product mix.

Sports Direct confounded critics when it pulled off flotation at 300p a share. On the first day, the share price closed at 218p, owing partly to analyst dissatisfaction following a meeting with founder Mike Ashley.

HMV Group closed its Waterstone’s flagship store on Oxford Street, having received an offer from Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo to take the 45,000 sq ft site.

Retail Week revealed that Stefano Pessinaplanned to ramp up international expansion and increase healthcare partnerships if he succeeded in taking Alliance Boots private.

New Look founder Tom Singh joined forces with Indian fashion supplier House of Pearl, with the aim of building an international clothing empire.

Many retailers launched Web 2.0 features on their web sites, with Figleaves adding ratings and reviews and Lakeland and QVC opting for video demos. The trend for user-generated content caught on, with retailers such as HMV and Tesco planning facilities.

River Island revealed plans to take on Inditex and H&M in an aggressive European expansion drive, following another market-beating performance during the financial year.

Next embarked on an overhaul of its product and branding in an effort to fight off its mid-market competitors.

STORE OF THE MONTH
Cos, Regent Street

Judging by its appearance on Regent Street, you might have found it hard to identify the curiously named Cos as being part of the same fashion group that brought us H&M.

As a format, Cos is intended to appeal to consumers for whom the first flush of youth may be a distant memory, but who still wish to be fashionable. As befits the brand’s origin, there was a certain Scandinavian severity about the two-floor store, with its black wood fixturing and a minimalist approach to its layout in general.

As this was the former Liberty annexe on Regent Street, it was interesting to see how H&M had stripped clean all references to the former tenant.

ON THE MOVE

Adams Childrenswear parted company with its entire management team and recruited former Boxfresh chairman David Carter-Johnson as chief executive.

Mike Killick was promoted from group financial controller to group finance director at the Peacock Group.

Geoff Brady joined Carpetright as non-executive director. He was previously deputy chairman of Matalan and non-executive director of Floors-2-Go.

Woolworths marketing director Stephen Robertsonleft the retailer, after fulfilling his brief to bolster its multichannel offer.

US LANDINGS CAUSE A STORM


Two high-profile US retailers decided to set up shop in London this year, operating in two different sectors and with two distinctly contrasting outcomes. The first was preppy brand Abercrombie & Fitch, which welcomed shoppers to its debut European store in March, in a former branch of the Bank of England on Savile Row.

As dark as a nightclub, with internally lit wood fixturing, this was a shop where the product really was the hero and, in spite of a pricing strategy that put the merchandise at almost double what it could be found at in its home market, it was mobbed from the outset.

All of the familiar Abercrombie & Fitch touchstones were on display, from the homoerotic graphics to the mounted moose head peering between two of the museum-style display cabinets around the perimeter. Continuous loud music ensured that even timid shoppers might imagine they were at a party. Revenues are understood to be higher than at the retailer’s New York flagship at present.

Organic produce retailer Whole Foods Market also started its European adventure with a distinct architectural advantage: it was to be housed in the former Barkers of Kensington department store – shoppers were in for a treat.

On its opening day in June, the 80,000 sq ft, three-floor emporium was filled with journalists, analysts and pundits. Retail theatre was apparent from the moment a burly figure pressed a button on the right of the antique metal doors that formed the entrance and the doors vanished into the floor.

The resulting void allowed for the rush that followed, as everyone fell over themselves to admire the cheese-maturing room, the tables of bananas and eggs, as well as fresh meat and fish counters, for which the adjective “abundant” seemed to have been invented to describe.

Structurally, not a great deal had changed inside, but what was presented was a visual merchandising feast. However, six months on, the number of customers has thinned out and further European branches of Whole Foods Market have yet to be announced.

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