Up-to-date coverage of the latest events in UK retail.
3:57pm John Lewis sales fall in Easter week
John Lewis and Waitrose sales plummeted last week with both retailers affected by the timing of Easter. John Lewis sales were down 5.3% compared to the same week last year while Waitrose sales fell 10.2%. Overall, sales fell 8.4% to £197.9m across the partnership.
8:17am Consumer confidence still negative in April
Consumer confidence remained negative but stable during April, according to the Gfk Consumer Confidence Index.
The index, which measures general economic and personal financial situations and consumers’ spending and saving, showed two measures increased and three decreased in April.
Despite the ongoing political uncertainty, consumers’ overall confidence remained stable but negative at -13, the same level as the last three months but four points lower than April 2018.
8:10am Tesco to offer 50% discounts as part of birthday loyalty scheme
Tesco plans to offer Clubcard-holders “great discounts” on a range of items from next week to celebrate its centenary.
The discounts available for Clubcard-holders could be up to 50% on selected items as part of Tesco’s 100th birthday celebrations, and will run from May 7 to May 26, according to an internal document seen by MoneySavingExpert.com.
In an email sent out to Clubcard holders overnight, Tesco said the discounts would be available to customers both “in-store or online” and said the scheme was “a special thank you for being a Clubcard customer”.
8:00am Arcadia board to hold crunch restructuring meeting today
Arcadia’s board is set to meet today to discuss the future of Sir Philip Green’s embattled fashion chain, as it eyes a possible company voluntary arrangement.
Directors for the Arcadia Group, whose fascias include Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Burton, Evans, Wallis and Outfit, will meet today to discuss how to move forward with restructuring the business, according to Sky News.
The talks come amid mounting speculation that Green is mulling launching a CVA in a bid to slash rents and get rid of a number of stores across the group.
7:27am Mastercard and Visa slash payment fees
Aftr a protracted investigation, Mastercard and Visa have agreed a deal with the European Union to slash fees charged to retailers on transactions made with cards from outside the EU.
Under the agreement reached between the credit card suppliers and Brussels, fees charged to retailers for processing card payments will fall by an average of 40%, according to The Times.
European commissioner for competition, Margrethe Vestager said: “This, together with our January 2019 decision on Mastercard’s cross-border card payment services, will lead to lower prices for European retailers to do business, ultimately to the benefit of all consumers.”
7:04am Shopping centre investment at 16-year low
Market value for UK shopping centres has all but stagnated with buyers struggling to assign value as retailers continue to restructure rents.
Data from commercial property group CoStar showed that £20m worth of shopping centres were bought/sold in the first quarter of the year, down from a yearly average of £783m.
That was the weakest quarter since at least 2003 and “probably this century”, CoStar head of UK analytics Mark Stansfield told the FT.
CoStar said the reason for the low turnover was that investors are worried about shopping centres exposures to retailers going through restructuring, such as Debenhams.