News
The latest news, updates and analysis on the the UK retail industry. Covering every segment of the market, Retail Sector’s business journalists keep you in the picture.
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Apr- 2018 -20 April
Furniture shop closing down after rent increases by £100,000
Phillip Logan, owner of furniture store Uno in South Belfast has decided to close his shop after facing a rent increase of £100,000. The premises was originally leased for 10 years but Logan has now opted to exercise a five year break clause. Logan has accredited the rise in rent…
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20 April
Bonmarché expects profit to meet expectations despite sales drop
Bonmarché has announced that for the 52 weeks to the 31 March in store like-for-like sales were down by 4.5% caused by a 11% drop in sales in Q4. However the women’s retailer said that it still expects full year profits to “be in line with expectations”. Online sales experienced…
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20 April
Sainsbury’s trials UK’s first grocery delivery service by electric bike
Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has announced that it is trialling the UK’s first grocery delivery service by electric cargo bike. A fleet of five zero emission bikes will be setting off across South London from the Streatham Common store, delivering up to 100 orders a day to local customers who’ve shopped…
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19 April
Store closure fears loom as House of Fraser appoints advisors
House of Fraser has appointed KPMG to advise the company on a restructuring plan, raising speculation that a number of stores may be about to close. The consultancy specialists are expected to look at all of the department store’s options including a Company Voluntary Agreement. The appointment is understood to…
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19 April
Woman charged £930 for 11p Banana in Asda online typo disaster
Asda has apologised after a woman attempted to buy a banana for sale on it’s online shop priced at £930.11 rather than the intended price of 11p. The lady had assumed it was just a typo until her credit card company’s fraud prevention team texted her to say her bill…
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19 April
Debenhams profits plummet by 84%
Debenhams has announced that its pre-tax profits fell by 84% to £13.5m after the ‘Beast from the East’ temporarily closed 100 stores. The department chain also saw its like-for-like sales fall by 2.2% for the 26 weeks to 3 March, attributed to a “challenging UK market background”. Revenue also decreased…
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19 April
Amazon and Not on the High Street condemned by MPs for mis-selling faux fur
Online retailers Amazon and Not on the High Street have been told they must do more to stop the sale of faur fur items which actually contain real fur. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRAC) launched an investigation in February, looking into UK retailers regarding the mis-selling of…
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19 April
Mothercare chairman announces retirement
Mothercare, retailer for parents and young children, has announced that Alan Parker has retired from his position as non-executive chairman. In a statement the retailer thanked Alan for “his calm leadership through a challenging period”, and “his support and encouragement for the board and the significant contribution he has made…
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18 April
Wish.com reprimanded for penis advert on video games aimed at children
Online retailer Wish.com has been displaying an advert showing an animation of a cartoon penis being put in an extender strap sold on the website, on video game apps aimed at children. This represents the third time in five months that the US company has been found to have breached…
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18 April
Retailers miss out on £18k a year through ‘surf and turf’ shopping trend
New research by Barclaycard has revealed that UK shoppers each abandon an online basket worth an average of £29.37 every month. Furthermore, many vendors are missing out on the data or insights they need to tackle the online conversion challenge. The study found shoppers are more fickle when buying online…
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