Year: 2019

Sainsbury’s to open the UK’s first signing store

Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s is to open the first sign language store in the UK, at a store in Bath, as part of the company’s 150th anniversary celebrations. ‘Signsbury’s’ will be open for four days from the 18 – 21 July and will see colleagues sign several common words and phrases…

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Capital and Regional appoints former Debenhams director

Retail property investors Capital and Regional, has appointed former Debenhams director of group property as its new commercial director. Prior to taking the role, he worked at the company as a consultant, and has since been working alongside its senior leadership team to support the company’s community strategy. Hadfield will…

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Online retail sales bounce back in June

Online retail sales rose by 8.5% year-on-year, the strongest growth this year, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index. Sales bounced back after a slump in May, which saw online sales suffer their worst growth on record at +1.9%. Clothing recorded the highest growth so far this year…

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Shop Direct appoints Boots exec as group trading director

Shop Direct has appointed Guy Farmer as group trading director, and will join the business in September and report to managing director for retail Sam Perkins. Farmer is currently vice president and global retail own brand director at Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA). During eight years at WBA, Farmer has led…

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Asos issues profit warning amid ‘operational issues’

Online retailer Asos has issued its third profit warning this year, on the release of its trading statement for the four months up to 30 June. The retailer cited “operational issues” as one of the contributing factors to the profit warnings, and the expected steep decline in profits. The retailer…

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How retailers can safeguard against serial returners

Serial returners are having a drastic impact on ecommerce retailers. In 2018, online returns from clothing cost UK retailers £70bn. With the roll-out of ‘buy now, pay later’ services, such as Klarna, are retailers encouraging shoppers’ non-committal attitude? In recent months, retailers have taken firm action against those abusing returns…

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Hotel Chocolat revenues jump 14%

Chocolate retailer Hotel Chocolat Group has reported a 14% increase in revenue to £132m for the year ending 30 June 2019. The retailer opened 16 new stores in the year contributing 5% to group sales year-on-year. Two of the new openings were in the USA, and the group also entered…

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Nine retailers to open on Broadgate development

Nine retailers are set to open stores on the Broadgate development just outside Liverpool Street Station. Chocolatier, Charbonnel et Walker is returning to the area, and clothing retailer Gant is also opening its first ever east London store. The stores will be joined by skincare brands Kiehl’s, Neom and The…

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Watches of Switzerland sees profits surge 181% in FY results

Watches of Switzerland has reported a 181% rise in profits before tax to £20.1m, in its first set of results after the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange. For the year ending 28 April 2019, the group also revealed its revenues surged by 22.5% to £773.5m during the…

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Four key trends for the rest of the retail year

As retailers strive to find ways to innovate and attract customers back to the high street, we are seeing new trends emerge on the high street. Currently, a growing number of bricks-and-mortar stores investing in their behind the scenes framework and technology platforms in order to improve productivity, efficiency and…

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