Year: 2019

Tesco scraps its first-ever Jack’s store

Tesco has confirmed it is closing the first-ever discount Jack’s store, only around a year after it unveiled its new concept. The store in Rawtenstall, East Lancashire, was the first ever discount store that the ‘Big Four Grocer’ opened as it looked to rival the German discount supermarkets Aldi and…

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Retail Lessons from DTC challenger brands

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands are shaking up entire categories. It’s now nearly impossible to find a single product category left unaffected by the arrival of this new wave of challenger brands. Even categories that have been stagnating for decades are finding themselves being disrupted. So how can your brand win in…

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Sainsbury’s announces store estate overhaul

Sainsbury’s is to undergo a store estate overhaul which will see it close over 100 stores, while also opening and relocating others, as it aims to save £500m over the next five years. The ‘Big Four’ grocer revealed it is set to close 10-15 of its large supermarkets, with the…

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Hotel Chocolat beats high street woes with strong revenue growth in 2019

British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat has reported a 14% increase in revenues to £132.5m for the year ending 30 June 2019. Profit before tax grew by 11% to £14.1m during the period, and the group results included £0.5m of sales and £1.2m of losses relating to new investments in locations in…

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Boohoo revenues spike 43% in half-year results

Online clothing retailer Boohoo has seen its revenues skyrocket by 43% to £564.9m for the six months to 31 August 2019. This was a result of “strong momentum” across the business, driving revenue growth in all of its brands and in all key focus territories. The group added it is…

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Online retail sales drag in August

Retail sales in August saw low growth of just 3% year-on-year according to the latest IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index, and comes after online sales slumped to its lowest ever July growth last month. According to the report, August’s result falls “well below” the five-year average of +9.6%, as well…

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The rise of loyalty schemes in the retail sector

E-vouchers are increasing in popularity. While at a relatively steady pace, the sector has grown 10% over the past two years. Hawk Incentives recently published The Loyalty Evolution Report which looked at customer loyalty and what’s driving it. Currently a massive 82% of Brits subscribe to at least one loyalty…

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Sports Direct announces five more Jack Wills closures

Sports Direct has revealed the locations of a further five Jack Wills stores set to close, following its acquisition of the clothing retailer. Sports Direct has earmarked its Bluewater, Oxford, Newcastle, Winchester and London Gatwick airport as the next stores to shutter. The company, which closed eight Jack Wills stores…

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Moss Bros H1 sales dragged down by hire business

Menswear retailer Moss Bros has posted a marginal 1.4% increase in total group revenue to £65.4m for the 26 weeks ended 27 July 2019. Sales were dragged by the retailer’s hire business, which fell by 14.7% on a like-for-like basis and represented only 10.7% of total sales in the half,…

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Marks & Spencer CFO exits

Marks and Spencer (M&S) has announced that its group chief financial officer, Humphrey Singer, has decided to leave the business. M&S said Singer will work with Steve Rowe, group chief executive officer, and the board to ensure an “orderly transition”. A departure date has not yet been decided and will…

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