The consumption boom has tapered off as increasing living costs and poor employment prospects damp confidence, but this has done little to deter consumers from rewarding themselves with small treats. If the snaking queues at rival Krispy Kreme's local store are anything to go by, Dunkin' Donuts will also appeal to South Africans looking for... Continue Reading →
A new report from Deloitte ranks the world’s 250 biggest retail groups, with five South African retailers making the grade. According to the report, South African retailers have been largely hit by a slowdown in China’s economy, as well as slower growth evident in many emerging markets. The MEA region had eight retailers represented (including... Continue Reading →
Fashion retailer H&M is to upsize its store at Kent's Bluewater shopping centre as it looks to create a flagship store for the South East. The existing Bluewater shop will be increased in size to 40,000 square feet after incorporating an additional 15,000 square feet of space. The extra space will be used by H&M... Continue Reading →
One of London’s prime retail areas, Oxford Street, is expected to welcome no less than 26 new flagship stores by the end of 2016 - further cementing the street reputation as one of the top shopping districts in the city. This new slew of flagship store openings comes after 11 retailers such as JD Sports,... Continue Reading →
Tesco will close the two “Food-to-Go” stores in London, after a failed attempt to rival the likes of Pret and Itsu, on 4 March. The supermarket chain opened the first store towards the end of 2014, following up with a second, smaller version in March last year. The concept stores were originally launched with tourists... Continue Reading →
Veronique Laury, CEO of Europe’s largest home-improvement retailer Kingfisher, has put together a strategy that will cost £800m but turn around annual pre-tax profits of £500m, within five years. Outlining her initiatives in a statement released on Monday, Laury revealed plans to return £600m to shareholders over three years, in addition to normal dividends.... Continue Reading →
JCPenney is getting back into the appliance business — and that's terrible news for Sears. CEO Marvin Ellison, who joined the company from The Home Depot, is leading an effort for the retailer to start selling washers and stoves for the first time in 30 years, Suzanne Kapner at The Wall Street Journal reports. Ellison... Continue Reading →
The announcement by Walmart last week that the retailer will close over 100 stores is a fair gauge of the state of American retail. Sales and earnings are down, but costs for labor are climbing. Macy's, Nordstrom, and Sears are all limping along. This downturn hasn't been lost on Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. In a... Continue Reading →
Marks & Spencer has launched new websites in Australia and New Zealand in its latest bid to push into overseas markets, reported The Guardian. Australian consumers are already some of the British retailer’s biggest online customers, buying via the retailer’s UK website which delivers to more than 30 countries worldwide. The new dedicated sites for... Continue Reading →
Amazon to create thousands more jobs in Europe and UK in fulfillment, R&D and software development Amazon is going on a major hiring spree as the etailer ramps up its operation across Europe and the UK. The retailer said many of the new jobs - of which 2,500 will be in the UK - will... Continue Reading →
The Institute of Customer Service annual ranking has a new leader after John Lewis fell to its lowest point in seven years. Amazon raised one place to head the list with a score of 86.6, followed by the energy provider Utility Warehouse, a new entrant, and the HSBC-owned online bank First Direct. This is as... Continue Reading →
Home Retail Group, which was recently wooed by Sainsbury’s with an offer to buy Argos, has agreed to sell Homebase to Bunnings: Australia’s largest hardware retailer. The business is owned by conglomerate Wesfarmers, one of Australia’s largest listed companies, and the decision comes just days after a bid was made. The takeover will see all... Continue Reading →
Danube Home, the one-stop retail destination for complete home solutions, has opened its first bespoke store in Dubai, UAE, on Sheikh Zayed Road. The grand opening ceremony on January 16 was attended by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth, and Social Development of the UAE; Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty; and Rizwan... Continue Reading →
Walmart is to shut 269 stores in the US and Latin America after the retail giant said it was reviewing its store network as it faced stiff competition especially from online rival Amazon. The closures will affect 16,000 workers, 10,000 of them in the US, where 154 locations – most of them small format stores... Continue Reading →
BHS has agreed to lease its Oxford Street flagship to Polish giant Lubianiec Piechocki i Partnerzy (LPP) more to follow ...
Home Retail Group has revealed it is in “advance discussions” to sell its Homebase business to Australian retailer Wesfarmers for £340m.
Sainsbury's has once again been crowned the best performer of the traditional supermarkets, with its premium Taste The Difference brand posting the largest ever Christmas sales, and straightforward price cuts rather than multi-buy deals attracting an additional 114,000 shoppers, leading to a 0.8% sales increase on last year. Figures released by Kantar Worldpanel have shown... Continue Reading →
Debenhams has hailed its “best ever December and Christmas” for 2015, off the back of stellar sales over the Black Friday weekend and festive trading period. Like-for-like sales grew 1.9% in the 19 weeks to January 9, up on city predictions of a 0.3% increase. Online sales were up 12% in the period, jumping 36%... Continue Reading →
Shares in SA's biggest retailers have tracked downwards in the past few months on expectations that weak economic growth and a rising interest rate cycle would curb consumer spending. The group's last price peak was R201.78 in April. The group owns brands including Foschini, Markham, Totalsports, @Home and American Swiss. Last January, it bought an... Continue Reading →
Superdrug recorded a strong trading performance over the key festive trading period, from the beginning of December to 2 January. Sales in like-for-like stores increased by 6.8% For the health and beauty chain, owned by A.S Watson Group, the online side of the business is proving fruitful with sales jumping 47% over the five weeks... Continue Reading →
More than 900 hotel rooms and 5,000 residential units to be built on the two banks of canal Dubai: During his inspection of the Dubai Canal project on Saturday, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, was briefed by Saeed Humaid Al Tayer,... Continue Reading →
The boss of Asda has warned that Britain’s struggling supermarkets will face further challenges in 2016 as it fires the first salvo of the year in the industry’s savage price wars. Andy Clarke has said he is pumping a further £500m into slashing prices at the grocer as it faces another brutal year of intense... Continue Reading →
Reduced discounting deterred shoppers from spending in December Reduced discounting deterred shoppers from spending in December Sales at UK fashion retailers continued to decline in December as canny shoppers and unusually warm weather saw high street stores suffer their worst Christmas since 2008. Like-for-like sales at fashion retailers fell 5.4% year-on-year during the four weeks... Continue Reading →
Jack Wills has announced a number of senior management appointments to strengthen its team in key areas as it plans its next stage of growth. The company has poached Phil Mickler, former CFO at Whistles, for the same position – he will join Jack Wills this month, is “an experienced financial leader in the retail... Continue Reading →
DUBLIN (Alliance News) - Ireland's retail sales increased in November after falling in the ... Alliance News6 January, 2016 | 11:18AM Email Form DUBLIN (Alliance News) - Ireland's retail sales increased in November after falling in the previous month, preliminary figures from the Central Statistics Office showed Wednesday. Retail sales volume rose a seasonally... Continue Reading →
Sales at John Lewis grew 5.1% over "three distinct sales peaks" of the Christmas trading period. Black Friday, Christmas and Clearance characterised a significant shift in patterns of trade, the British retailer said, with higher sales and a different channel mix for each peak. While footfall was lower in the run up to Christmas, this... Continue Reading →
Marc Bolland, the man who has been running Marks and Spencer for six years, will exit following difficulties in transforming the business. After months of quashing rumours that he would be leaving, he has announced his decision to retire, and will remain CEO until the end of the current financial year on April 2, In... Continue Reading →
Aldi will grow faster than ever this year as it continues to expand in line with its two-year £600m investment plan. 80 new stores Last year, Aldi grew its estate by c.65 stores and plans to exceed this in 2016 by opening 80 new stores across the UK, an increase of 23%. Aldi's strong expansion... Continue Reading →
Retailer Next has blamed the warm weather in the final few weeks of last year for a "disappointing" trading performance in the run-up to Christmas. The company also said trading at its Next Directory online and catalogue operation had been difficult, due in part to poor stock availability. Between 26 October and 24 December,... Continue Reading →
The fallout from a punishing winter for Britain’s high street will be laid bare this week when retail stalwarts Marks & Spencer and Next are expected to report tough festive trading. Retailers have had to battle with a potent mix of unseasonably mild temperatures; heavy rainstorms; Black Friday discounting; and the terrorist attacks in Paris.... Continue Reading →
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