Torrid trading conditions meant retail casualties made headlines throughout 2019. Sometimes it appeared that the entire retail industry was in the emergency ward, but that’s not so. Here we take a look at some of the successful retailers that smashed it out of the park this year.

Dunelm

“Full year profit before tax will be higher than our previous expectations.” It is a sentence – and a trading result - that many retailers will envy.

It is also testament to Dunelm’s executional prowess and a mindset, in the worlds of chief executive Nick Wilkinson, that is “paranoid about not being relevant” in a “world that’s changing so fast”.

Dunelm MK 13

It’s been a dramatic turnaround for the homewares retailer, which posted a profit warning in May last year and reported a fall in full-year profits in the year to June 30, 2018.

Wilkinson has focused on simplifying the Dunelm business over the past 18 months. He closed its Kiddicare and Worldstores websites and moved to a single supply chain and website.

While such transitions, especially involving new technology and platforms, frequently bring unexpected pitfalls, Dunelm has navigated the change consummately.

The retailer’s success in pursuing its mission “to help everyone create a home they love” has paid off. Its market cap now stands at £2.3bn, after the shares rose from 535p at the start of the year to 1,140p.

Pets at Home

Under the leadership of chief executive Peter Pritchard, Pets at Home in 2019 reported its 10th consecutive quarter of like-for-like growth.

The retailer, which had previously hit some bumps in the road at its vets business, has a Cheshire cat grin on its face these days after pursuing a strategy to make it ‘Amazon proof’. This includes, a focus on pet care services.

Peter Pritchard

Pritchard told Retail Week earlier this year: “Amazon is a formidable, brilliant retailer, but they sell stuff. What we do is we actually help you. We understand pet care is an experience and that’s where we really come into our own.”

Pets at Home’s first-half underlying profits were up 10.2% and full-year earnings are expected to come in at the top end of consensus.

Now capitalised at £1.38bn, Pets at Homes shares are up from 116.4p to 278.4p in the year to date.

Ocado

While Ocado’s Andover distribution centre burned down in February after an electrical fault caused a robot to burst into flames, it has been a memorable year for much happier reasons for the retailer-cum-tech giant.

There was a landmark £750m deal with Marks & Spencer, which will allow M&S to sell its food online for the first time after it bought a 50% stake in Ocado’s retail arm.

And Ocado, which is now classified as a technology company rather than a retailer, continued to pull off international deals with overseas retailers keen to exploit its digital and distribution prowess. In November, Japanese giant Aeon became Ocado Solutions’ latest overseas partner.

Ocado’s market cap of £8.65bn now dwarfs that of former bellwether M&S, and when formally reclassified it will be the UK’s largest technology business – “the Microsoft of retail” in the words of broker Peel Hunt.

Dr Martens

Having previously taken Cath Kidston to new heights, the chair and chief executive team of Paul Mason and Kenny Wilson are doing the same at Dr Martens.

Dr Martens

Dr Martens’ owner, private equity firm Permira, is seeking to sell the shoe brand and retailer for as much as £1bn after buying it six years ago for £300m.

Dr Martens notched up a 70% increase in EBITDA to £85m in its last financial year, when there was a 30% rise in group revenue to £454.4m. Direct-to-consumer sales performed particularly strongly as the retailer opened stores in key cities and invested in its website and digital talent.

The heritage retailer is still as relevant with today’s shoppers as ever. The business has benefited from wider shifts in society such as climate change activism by groups such as Extinction Rebellion.

Wilson told Retail Week earlier this year that Dr Martens appealed to “authentic characters who stand for something”. He said: “Our whole proposition is based around rebellious self-expression, so cultural factors are helping us – our brand is a go-to for people who are independent thinkers.”

Liberty

While 2019 was a tough year for department store groups such as Debenhams, where lenders took control and a CVA was launched, famous London name Liberty suffered no such problems.

Liberty of London

In July Liberty’s private equity backer BlueGem sold a majority stake to Glendower Capital in a deal valued at £300m. The deal represented a good return for BlueGem, which took a controlling shareholding in Liberty for £32m in 2010.

Liberty’s appeal is based upon unique characteristics ranging from its iconic Tudor-style flagship store in London to its famous fabric prints.

In the most recent year for which accounts are available, to February 2018, Liberty’s pre-tax profit soared more than threefold to nearly £7m, and more than 60% of profits came from own-label merchandise. Sales were up 8%.

At the time of the deal GlobalData global retail research director Maureen Hinton told Retail Week: “They really play to their strength in design and style, so they live up to the building in many ways and the heritage, and they’ve done that well over the last few years.”

Greggs

The home of cheese and onion pasties and steak bakes proved itself one of the most adept readers of changing consumer tastes as it created a sensation with the launch of vegan sausage rolls early this year.

Greggs

The product’s debut prompted a media frenzy, even drawing in opinionated Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan. But more importantly it was a spot-on decision from a commercial perspective.

In October, Greggs reported total sales up 12.4% in its third quarter, while like-for-likes advanced 7.4%. A month later the retailer said profits would be “higher than our previous expectations”.

Greggs’ success is tribute to chief executive Roger Whiteside’s ability to adapt the business to reflect changes in people’s everyday lives - the rise of food on the go as well as the shift to flexitarian diets.

The revolutionary vegan sausage roll became one of Greggs’ most popular products, bought by committed carnivores as well as vegans. Greggs is expected to unveil another big new vegan product this January.

Reiss

Much of fashion retail looked pretty threadbare in 2019, but Reiss stayed in style throughout.

Reiss

Reiss

Under the leadership of former Next product supremo Christos Angelides and his team, Reiss posted a rise in first-half group sales of 23.7% to £102.9m and like-for-likes climbed 25.6% on a constant currency basis.

Angelides said that customers were “clearly responding to the investment we have made in people, product, brand and infrastructure”.

The retailer set itself up for success by reining in promotions and focusing on full-price sales, which brought margin benefits.

There had already been investment in areas such as product design and quality, and the retailer has been opening new points of sale overseas, such as with US department store group Nordstrom.

TK Maxx

Consumers’ love of a bargain has kept the tills ringing at TK Maxx.

TKMaxx

In its most recent financial year, to February 2019, the off-price powerhouse generated profit before tax of £120.5m, up from £87.1m, the previous year. Total sales climbed 6.4% to £3.1bn and like-for-like store sales rose 4%.

The year was significant too as TK Maxx opened on Oxford Street, another sign of the increasing prominence of the business, which also operates the Homesense fascia.

The new store marked TK Maxx’s 25th year in the UK, and there is no sign of its appeal diminishing.

DFS

Brexit uncertainty and changing shopping habits afflicted some big-ticket retailers but DFS looked well upholstered when it posted a 31% increase in underlying pre-tax profits last year.

DFS Dwell Oxford

Chief executive Tim Stacey, who has been in post for just over a year, said the retailer’s new strategy was progressing well.

Enhancements to its website in order to engage and inspire customers, along with good housekeeping, such as shared logistics across its various businesses, and exploiting new growth opportunities such as Sofology, Dwell and Sofa Workshop have all paid off.

DFS also aims to grow internationally. At present it operates in the Netherlands, where gross like-for-likes rose 12.8% last year although it has not yet reached break-even.

As furniture and home retailers prepare for their big sales period starting in January, DFS looks well placed to remain at the front of the pack.