Opinion – Page 334
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OpinionBanks start living in the real world
The attitude of those in whose hands the future of struggling retailers rests seems to have changed
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OpinionJD Sports in fashion
JD Sports Fashion has hit the ball out of the park with its latest set of full-year results.Full-year profits came in well ahead of expectations and its like-for-likes over the nine weeks to last Saturday were in positive territory in spite of the snow and later fall of Easter this ...
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OpinionHunger for food stocks sated
General retailers’ popularity has been growing of late. At the end of last week some big names rose again, at the expense of the food giants.Although food stocks are often popular for their defensive qualities during tough times, the big grocers were not the flavour of the week. Last Friday ...
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OpinionThe good, the bad and the ugly
Have the past 10 years’ big changes been good for the industry? Simon Burke gives his view
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OpinionRetail Surgery: Preparing for DataBar technology
There is a new type of barcode being introduced, but when is this happening and what do retailers need to do to prepare for it?
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OpinionTwittering on about retail
Twitter has once again hit the headlines this week with the news that even the Government is getting in on the act of updating internet audiences with messages of 140 characters or less.But it is retailers that are leading the way in proactively engaging consumers in conversation using sites such ...
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OpinionNow we need real action on service charges
It’s not the most glamorous of subjects, but service charge is one of the areas where retailers have been paying through the nose for decades. Finally, it seems, landlords are willing to have a serious conversation about it.Retailers will delight in any plan to save them money in these tight ...
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OpinionTopshop to New York, Anthropologie to London
Standing on a rainy sidewalk in New York on Friday, it was hard to find much to be enthusiastic about. The mood in the city was resolutely downbeat and the number of buildings with the words “Retail For Rent” plastered across them served as an indication of the malaise that has hit the city hard.
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OpinionMothercare is all grown up
Mothercare appears to have its corner of the retail sector all sewn up.Today, the maternity and baby specialist unveiled a stellar set of results, with UK sales ahead of expectations and international sales soaring.It is a repeat story for the retailer that rarely puts a baby step out of place.Admittedly, ...
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OpinionA top shop for a Big Apple
This week sees Topshop New York finally away from the starting blocks in the latest episode of Brits intent on making a splash in the Big Apple.
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OpinionCautious Next sets the standard
Next chief executive Simon Wolfson was his usual cautious self last week, revealing to the City that the fashion retailer would be “sticking to the knitting”.His approach pleased analysts, and one even believes that Next is among the best-managed companies in the sector.Wolfson is right to be cautious. Among the ...
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Opinion
The end justifies the means in Rose’s case
His style may be Savile Row but Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose this week once again showed himself to be a scrapper. The retailer’s fourth-quarter update confounded bearish expectations as a raft of initiatives bore fruit. Like-for-like declines won’t have them dancing in the foyer of Waterside House ...
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OpinionKeep the international faith
Despite bumps in the road, emerging markets are still great opportunities, says Ian Cheshire
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Opinion
Waitrose heads for the road
Waitrose’s latest expansion route will take it to motorway service stations. Will it knock Marks & Spencer off its post?When celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal gave his magic touch to the egg and chips style motorway cafe Little Chef, cars clogged up the A303 near Winchester as hungry fans queued up ...
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Opinion
Cruel month of April no joke for retail
In The Wasteland, TS Eliot wrote that April is the cruellest month. Something tells me JG Brown and AM Darling studied it in their formative years.With property and people being retailers’ biggest operating costs, Wednesday certainly wasn’t a day to celebrate. April 1 was the day this year’s whopping business ...
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Opinion
Welcome relief on costs
Tuesday’s unexpected but very welcome deferral of the proposed 5 per cent rates rise was not the only good news in retail property this week.For several months Retail Week has been reporting on all sorts of argy-bargy between retailers and landlords.But representatives of the two groups, spearheaded by Arcadia and ...
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Opinion
BPF launches website to fight Government over empty rates
The British Property Federation (BPF) has piled more pressure on the Government over the empty property relief laws by launching a website to raise awareness of its campaign.
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Opinion
NRF accuses card companies over PCIDSS
While President Obama is in London for the G20 summit today, retailers’ eyes should also be on a little-publicised congressional panel back in the US that could impact the way credit card data is used in the future.
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Opinion
Quarter day: So far so good
This time a week ago, my inbox was buzzing with emails from lawyers, surveyors, agents and more all predicting a rout in the coming weeks as retailers broke their backs to pay this quarter’s rent. Seven days later, and despite the fear, landlords are making very positive noises.