Opinion – Page 356
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Opinion
Solving problems that don’t exist
It’s a funny old world. The first page of the Competition Commission’s report into grocery retailing says that the UK grocery industry is competitive and delivers “good outcomes for consumers”. The 269-page document goes on to outline how this state of affairs should be fixed.
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Opinion
Inquiry has failed to land punches on grocers
Competition Commission chairman Peter Freeman was asked this week whether he felt deflated by his final grocery inquiry report that found precious little wrong with the £130 billion grocery sector.
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Opinion
The Retail Week – May 2, 2008
Baugur’s sale of MK One to Hilco is an unusual move for the Icelandic investor. It hasn’t been in the habit of selling its UK retail investments, but then again it hasn’t had many headaches on the scale of MK One.
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OpinionThe customer is always right…
Another week, another tale of fashion sector woe. More retailers took a battering in the headlines this week.
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Opinion
Creating an environment we can be proud of
This store has been open for nearly 10 months and every annual event brings with it a chance to learn about the trading environment and our colleagues.
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Opinion
Westfield should not be too hard on retailers
It was not all doom and gloom at last week’s Retail Week Property Directors’ Club, as you might expect in the present climate. Property directors were sounding a note of caution, but also enthused about certain projects and opportunities coming up this year.
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Opinion
Following financial services
Financial services firms have tended to be ahead of the curve when it comes to deploying new technology, because their businesses rely and benefit so much from it.
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Opinion
In praise of German VM
Galeria Kaufhof is a chain of German department stores. You’ll find a branch in every one of the country’s major towns and they serve the same function as, say, Debenhams in the UK.
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Opinion
Sainsbury's needs to step up non-food online
Sainsbury’s will launch a new home brand in two stores this weekend as part of its drive to ramp up its non-food offer, as revealed in today’s Retail Week.
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Opinion
How can retailers keep everybody happy?
The world is short of agricultural land. There are an increasing number of mouths to feed. The emerging middle classes in developing countries are looking for badges of affluence, one of which is to forsake the vegetarian diets of their grandparents to demand more meat.
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Opinion
E-tail is different from retail
An e-commerce site can drive business, but don’t approach it in the same way as stores
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Opinion
Downturn can’t stop investment
The banks got a £50 billion bail-out on Monday, but who is going to rescue embattled retailers?
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Opinion
Food inflation is here to stay
It takes something for Primark to play second fiddle in the news after parent company ABF’s results, particularly considering the value fashion giant seems to be doing a remarkable job of weathering the fashion downturn.
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Opinion
Nose for a bargain
One out of every 10 – that’s the number of clothing items bought in Primark by UK shoppers over the past year, apparently.
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Opinion
Heathrow, we have a problem
A trip to Italy earlier this week gave me the opportunity to sample the delights of Heathrow Terminal 5.
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Opinion
High street woes will filter down to retail parks
The past week there has been a bloodbath on the high street.
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Opinion
Co-op is right to bid for Somerfield
The Co-operative Group confirmed the grocery sector’s worst-kept secret this week, when it said it was in talks to acquire 900-store local grocery chain Somerfield.
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Opinion
The Retail Week – April 18, 2008
While the numbers beat expectations, no one will have been surprised by the overall tone of WHSmith’s interim results yesterday.
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Opinion
Blood on the shopfloor
To say there is blood on the shopfloor today is an understatement. The fashion sector has been left reeling with uncertainty following the collapse of Ethel Austin, the announcement of store closures from JJB Sports and the For Sale sign hoisted over MK One.