News
News is Retail Sector’s central hub for breaking stories, market developments and company updates from across the UK retail industry. This category delivers authoritative, timely coverage on everything from trading performance and executive changes to store openings, brand activity and supply chain developments.
Retail Sector’s news coverage focuses on the business realities behind the headlines — providing retail professionals with context on how each development impacts operations, strategy and market confidence. Readers can expect clear, accurate reporting designed to keep decision-makers informed and competitive in a fast-moving retail landscape.
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Oct- 2018 -15 October
Amazon to open fashion pop-up store
Amazon Fashion will be launching its first ever UK pop-up store located on Baker Street London. The pop-up will be open from Tuesday 23 until Saturday 27 October a showcase a different curation of men’s and women’s fashion items and brands every other day as well as activities throughout. At…
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12 October
Hamleys reports £12m sales loss amid ‘most challenging year in retail history’
Toy retailer Hamleys has reported a sales loss of £12m for the full year to 31 December 2017. According to the the latest figures revenues dropped 2.5% to £66.3m and net assets also decreased by £11.7m, as well as an EBITDA loss of £4.7m. The group said 2017 was one…
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12 October
Boots sales fall 3% due to ‘decline in UK pharmacy funding’
Boots has announced a 3.4% fall in sales between June and August 2018 comparison with the same period last year. The pharmacy chain blamed “lower prescription volume and a decline in UK pharmacy funding” for the sales drop, in its latest financial report. Sales in its pharmacies fell by 1.2%…
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12 October
Retailers could be forced to publish ethnicity pay gaps
Prime minister Theresa May has announced a series of measures to tackle ethnic disparities in the workplace, which includes the mandatory publishing of ethnicity pay gaps. The government has invited businesses to share its views on this mandatory approach to ethnicity pay reporting, since according to the group the number…
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12 October
Karen Millen buys Coast’s UK operations out of administration
Karen Millen has agreed to buy certain parts of the Coast’s UK business out of administration. Under Karen Millen, Coast will trade primarily across its various websites, in concessions across the UK and through wholesale and franchise partners. Coast’s solus stores and the concessions on mainland Europe are not included…
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12 October
Sports Direct acquires HoF Glasgow store in ‘Harrods of the North’ ambition
House of Fraser today (Friday 12 October) vowed to create the “Harrods of the North” – after announcing a £95m deal to acquire the freehold of the Frasers building in Glasgow. The flagship store already has a strong luxury brand presence which includes Hermes, Christian Louboutin, Prada and Gucci giving…
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11 October
Ikea reports strong growth in retail sales for FY 2018
Flat pack furniture retailer Ikea has reported a 4.7% increase in retail sales to €38.8bn (£33.9bn) in its full year 2018 report. The company opened 12 new Ikea stores, including its first in India, and customer visits to its 367 stores increased by 3% (838 million visits) in 2018 while…
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11 October
WH Smith to close six stores as result of ‘business review’
WH Smith has announced it will close six stores as it looks to “restructure” its high street business, including operational activities and winding down “non-core trial initiatives” including Cardmarket and WH Smith. Despite restructuring plans WH Smith said its high street arm had delivered a “good performance despite the well…
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11 October
Levi’s posts double-digit Q3 sales increase
Levi Strauss and Co. has reported a 10% increase in retail sales during the twelve weeks to 26 August, as the fashion retailer delivered its fourth consecutive quarter of revenue growth. Levi’s net revenue for the three-month period was $1.39bn (£1.05bn) up from $1.26bn (£955m) the previous year. The growth…
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11 October
ASOS launches voice-activated shopping
ASOS has claimed to be one of the first fashion retailers in the UK to launch on Google Assistant, meaning customers can discover products across popular categories using their voice. Customers in the UK and US can initiate conversation with Enki, the ASOS shopping guide, by saying: “Hey Google, talk…
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