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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May- 2019 -22 May
Online retail sales see subdued growth in April
Online retail sales saw sales growth of just 5.2% year-on-year (YoY) in April, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index. The group said this compares “poorly” to the strong performance seen in April of last year (+12.5%), but continued an ongoing trend of subdued growth seen since the…
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21 May
Elle to launch childrenswear brand
Clothing retailer, Elle has announced it is to launch a childrenswear brand across all of its European stores in partnership with international licence partner Brand Machine Group (BMG). The license agreement between BMG and Elle operator Lagardère Active Enterprises (LAE) enables BMG to design, manufacture and market the Elle childrenswear…
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21 May
Halfords sees FY profits drop 17.9%
Halfords has reported a 17.9% drop in annual profits and has warned that “fragile” consumer confidence means it expects a flat outcome in its new financial year. The car parts and bicycle retailer announced its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 29 March 2019 that profit before tax was…
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21 May
WH Smith CEO to step down
WH Smith’s group chief executive, Stephen Clarke has announced he is stepping down from his role on 31 October 2019, after 15 years with the company. The newsagent also announced that Carl Cowling will be appointed as group chief executive as successor to Clarke, as part of its long-term succession…
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20 May
M&S speeds up store closures
Marks and Spencer has announced it is to speed up its store closure plans by two years, as it looks to close 100 stores by 2020. The announcement comes as chairman Archie Norman and chief executive Steve Rowe prepare to unveil another slump in annual profits on Wednesday, according to…
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20 May
JD Sports’ takeover of Footasylum to be investigated by CMA
The CMA has announced it is investigating the completed acquisition by JD Sports of Footasylum. The CMA said it has “reasonable grounds” for suspecting that it may be the case that JD Sports and Footasylum have “ceased to be distinct”. It added that the merger may be expected to result…
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20 May
Co-op and Superdrug agree meal deal partnership
The Co-op has struck a “meal deal” with Superdrug which will see it supply the health and beauty chain with an extensive food-to-go range including sandwiches, salads and fruit. The trial will see Co-op become Superdrug’s food-to-go partner and initially supply its award winning own-brand products to seven branches located…
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17 May
Amazon invests in Deliveroo
Deliveroo has announced it has received $575m (£450m) in investment from online retailer, Amazon. The investment makes Amazon the largest investor in Deliveroo’s shared funding round, which the app hopes will allow it to invest heavily in expanding the company’s tech team at its UK Headquarters, expand further to reach…
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17 May
Asda experiences sales dip after failed merger
Asda has seen its sales drop amid an “incredibly challenging backdrop” during which it also saw its Sainsbury’s merger plans with rival Sainsbury’s scuppered by the CMA. Asda said the decline, which ends its record of seven consecutive quarters of growth, arose due to the later timing of the busy…
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17 May
Waitrose & Partners plans to ‘treble’ size of online operations
Waitrose and Partners has announced plans to treble the size of its online grocery operation to a £1bn business over the next three years, working in partnership with Today Development Partners (TDP) . According to the grocer, the move with TDP, which is headed by Jonathan Faiman and Mo Gawdat,…
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