Company Results

• Gear4Music have reported a 43.0% increase in total sales to £80.1m for the 12 months to 28 February 2018. UK sales increased by 27.0% to £44.3m while European and rest of the world sales increased by 69.0% to £35.8m for the same period.

• Retailers in London’s West End are expected to see £4bn extra turnover in the three years to 2021, generated by the Elizabeth line, a new railway running through London.

• The John Lewis Partnership have reported a 2.0% increase in gross sales to £11.6bn for the 52 weeks to 27 January 2018. Waitrose have reported a 1.8% increase in gross sales to £6.8bn while John Lewis have reported a 2.2% increase in gross sales to £4.8bn for the same period. Partnership’s profit before tax, partnership bonus and exceptional items decreased by 21.9% to £289.2m.

• Lookers have reported a 15.0% increase in turnover to £4.7bn for the year to 31 December 2017. Adjusted profit before tax increased by 5.0% to £68.4m for the same period.

Lifestyle LFLs were down by –20.63% this week from a base of –8.19% for the same week last year. The 2017 base for that week was low in part because Mother’s Day was included in the same week for 2016. Despite a small number of retailers bucking the trend, 89% of respondents reported negative LFL growth this week, of which 88% reported double-digit declines.

Fashion LFLs were hit hardest in-Store this week, down by –31.78% from a base of –3.47% for the same week last year. 91% of respondents reported negative LFL growth this week, 100% of which experienced a double-digit drop in LFL sales as compared to last year.

Homeware LFLs were down by –25.90% this week from a base of +0.35% for the equivalent week last year. The snow-hit result this week takes in-store homeware results to five negative weeks in succession.

Non-store sales were also subdued this week with deliveries impacted by the weather. Non-store sales were up by +6.56%, the lowest weekly level seen in the year-to-date. Up from a base of +16.21% last year, this week’s result was the tenth week in a row that non-store LFL sales have not broken through the +20% threshold.

Clothing, Footwear & Accessories

• Asos have announced that Helen Ashton will step down from her role as Group’s Chief Financial Officer and will retire from the Board on 30 April 2018. She will remain in employment until 31 August 2018 to ensure an orderly handover. (Source: Company Press Release)

• Debenhams is reportedly in discussions to rent out excess floor space at its flagship Oxford Street, London store to hot-desking provider WeWork

• House of Fraser have announced that the company’s Chinese owner, Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store, plans to sell its 51% stake to Wuji Wenhua, a tourism development company. The company currently holds 89% stake in House of Fraser. (Source: Independent)

• Jigsaw have announced that Peter Ruis, Chief Executive Officer, has left the retailer with immediate effect. He will be succeeded by Jigsaw’s Chairman, Charles Atterton, who previously served as joint Chief Executive. (Source: Telegraph)

• Liberty have announced the appointment of Rob Unsworth as their new Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect. He joins the luxury department store from his role of Finance Director at Debenhams. (Source: Drapers)

• New Look have announced plans to reduce its UK store estate by 60 stores and cut down around 1,000 jobs under the terms of a company voluntary arrangement. The proposal also includes a reduction in rental costs and revised lease terms across 393 stores. (Source: Company Press Release)

• Poundland have announced plans to accelerate the rollout of Pep&Co fashion outlets within its existing stores. The expansion drive will see it open 91 Pep&Co stores by June 2018, putting it on course to have a total of 330 by the middle of 2018. (Source: Independent)

• River Island, High street fashion retailer, have opened an upsized store at Centre: MK in Milton Keynes. The 20,000 sq.ft shop will stock the brand’s ranges of clothing, footwear and accessories for men and women. (Retail Bulletin)

• Sports Direct have increased their stake in Debenhams to 29.7% and is looking to extend their relationship with the firm to a strategic partnership. (Source: Global Data)

• TM Lewin, have announced the appointment of Sven Gaede, New Look’s former International Managing Director as their new Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. (Source: Drapers)

Electrical & Entertainment

• Dixons Travel have announced plans to open five new airport stores in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. The shops will feature dedicated product demonstration areas, a mobile phone charging area, and the retailer’s Team Knowhow experts on hand to offer repairs and fixes. (Source: Retail Bulletin)

• Maplin have announced that the sixty-three staff members who work at company’s head office have been made redundant as part of the retailer’s administration process. A total of 2,500 jobs are at risk if a buyer cannot be found and Maplin’s 217 stores are shut. (Source: Independent)

Food & Drink

• Aldi have announced the appointment of Giles Hurley as their new Chief Executive Officer for their British and Irish operations with effect from 1 May 2018. Matthew Barnes, the current Chief Executive Office is promoted to an expanded role within the grocer’s parent company. (Source: Retail Gazette)

• PepsiCo has released a football-focused activation for its namesake CSD brand, as it looks to tap into the global popularity of the sport. (Source: Just Drinks)

• Co-op have unveiled a new mobile phone app in partnership with Mastercard that allows shoppers to pay for purchases in the aisle and avoid visiting a till all together. The shop, scan and go initiative is being trialled at the Co-op’s store located at the retailer’s support centre in Manchester. (Source: Retail Gazette)

• UK drinks supplier Kingsland Drinks has launched a range of sparkling “fusion” wine-style drinks intended to be lower in abv than regular wine and with more innovative flavour options. (Source: Just Drinks)

• Morrisons have announced the opening of a new-look store in St Ives. The store measures 25,000 sq.ft and trades from a single floor. (Source: Retail Week)

• Sainsbury’s have announced changes in the pay structure by increasing basic pay for its shop-floor staff with cuts in other remuneration. Around 130,000 shopfloor staff across Britain will be paid £9.20 an hour from 1 September 2018, compared to current basic hourly pay of £8.0. (Source: Telegraph)

• Tesco have completed its £3.7bn takeover of the Booker wholesale group. The cash and shares merger was implemented through a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement where approval was given on 2 March 2018. (Source: Retail Bulletin)

Household

• Debenhams have unveiled a new partnership with French interiors brand Maisons du Monde as part of the retailer’s efforts to revamp trading in their turnaround scheme. Maisons du Monde shop-in-shop concessions will be launched in three of their stores in spring 2018 in Westfield London, Birmingham and Manchester. (Source: Company Press Release)

• Findel have plans to extend their commercial relationship with Sports Direct, their largest shareholder with 29.9% of its equity. The company’s announcement follows successful pilots of Sports Direct-licensed brands on Express Gifts’ Studio.co.uk website. (Source: Global Data)

• House, Australian homewares retailer, have announced launch in the UK in mid-April 2018 with the opening of four stores. The first store will be located in Westgate shopping centre in Oxford, followed by Meadowhall in Sheffield. The brand plans to open 75 stores across the country within three years and employ 1000 people. (Source: Retail Gazette)

• Loaf, furniture retailer, have plans to open a new 5,000 sq.ft store in Guildford on 15 March 2018. The shop will be the company’s first outside of London and will add to the three London shops the company already operates. (Source: Retail Bulletin)

• OKA, the furniture and home accessories brand, have announced plans to open their largest store outside of London in Guildford on 15 March 2018. The 11,000 sq.ft shop will be OKA’s fifteenth UK store. (Source: Retail Bulletin)

• Shop Direct have announced the appointment of Henry Birch as their new Chief Executive Officer. Henry Birch will join the retailer before 31 December 2018, replacing interim Chief Executive Derek Harding. (Source: Drapers)

Courtesy of ‘Barclays‘