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Distribution - Manufacturing - Healthcare - Motors - Professional - Property - Retail - Wet Trade |
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Ed Hardy plans to open five stores by year end ED Hardy, the American fashion brand known for its bold tattoo designs, plans to open five exclusive stores this year covering Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh and Ludhiana. The brand entered India in 2008 through a franchise agreement with Wadhawan Lifestyle Retail.
The aim is to add another seven stores in the next year. Ed Hardy, at present, has three standalone stores and six shop-in-shops in India including tier II cities. Besides apparel the company has launched mobile accessories, watches, eyewear and footwear. They plan to introduce car accessories soon. The brand, which derives its name from the American tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy, resulted from the partnership between French fashion designer Christian Audigier and Ed Hardy in 2004. news from www.retailangle.com ****************************************************************************** Diesel sets foot in India
Italian lifestyle brand,
Diesel has finally opened its first store in central Mumbai - Palladium
mall, followed by its second store in Mumbai’s upmarket suburb of Juhu. Renzo Rosso, Diesel’s founder and president, was present to open
the Juhu store. Diesel will open seven stores in India this year in
cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad as it focuses on
the metro markets. The stores will offer the entire range of Diesel life
style products – apparel, footwear, lingerie, sunglasses, fragrances and
accessories as well as limited-edition products developed in
collaboration with other brands. The merchandise will be similar to that
sold in its stores worldwide. ******************************************************************************
Tommy Hilfiger sells for
$3bn US-based apparel company Phillips-Van Heusen Corp, owner of the Calvin Klein label, has said it will buy fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger in a cash and stock deal for about $3bn in a bid to boost its presence in markets like Europe and Asia. After the deal, Tommy Hilfiger will remain in his role as principal designer and visionary for the namesake brand and Fred Gehring will continue as CEO of Tommy Hilfiger. Tommy Hilfiger is currently owned by private equity firm Apax Partners. The acquisition of the fashion label is unlikely to impact the business of Arvind Murjani Brands (a joint venture between Murjani group and Arvind Brands, since 2004) that owns the license to market the brand in India. Incidentally, Murjani group, has the license to market the brand across products, including watches and briefs, also holds Indian license for Calvin Klein. News from www.retailangle.com ***************************************************************************
India to become the world's third largest grocery market According to a forecast by IGD (International Grocery Distribution), China is predicted to become the world’s largest grocer displacing the USA, and India will become the world's third largest grocery market by 2014. Between 2010 and 2014 China's population growth rate is expected to be double that of the US. China, which was significantly less affected by recession than the US and which has a market that is growing nearly three times faster than the US as per IMF predictions on account of increased investment and consumer spending will be worth €761bn in terms of grocery spend, outstripping the US, which is set to be worth €745bn in four years' time. India's grocery market is presently €279bn and will rise to €448bn by 2014. News from www.retailangle.com *************************************************************************** Booths has had a very merry Christmas Regional food and drink retailer Booths has seen an 8.4% increase in sales for the 12 trading days of Christmas and new year, with like for like sales over the festive period up by 2.5%. Despite a tightening economy Booths achieved good product availability with increased customer interest in high quality local food and drink. Demand for premium products has been high and there have been particularly strong sales on beer, wine and spirits. Booths also saw record sales of turkeys and roast meats following its first year offering an online pre-order service for fresh roasting meat and poultry. Chris Dee, trading director at Booths, said: “2009 has been a challenging year, especially towards the end of the year when severe weather conditions affected a number of our stores across the two week period. We are pleased with the results and continue to be competitive on prices, whilst maintaining the quality of our offer.” *************************************************************************** Barclays predicts record Christmas spending Shoppers are expected to shun the economic downturn in favour of festive cheer this December with record amounts set to be spent on the UK’s high streets. Figures from Barclays predict that a record £23bn will be spent on debit cards throughout December – a 4% increase on the same time last year. Supermarkets will pocket £5bn in their busiest month of the year whilst over £1bn will be spent at petrol stations, fuelling the great Christmas getaway. The extra bank holiday over the Christmas weekend is likely to see high streets and shopping centres across the UK heaving with shoppers keen to make the most of the annual sales and snap up a bargain. Department stores will attract £650m of debit card spending over December whilst jewellers’ tills will be ringing to the tune of £210m. Not surprisingly with Christmas being the time to be merry, restaurants and pubs will have their busiest time of the year with debit cards settling £600m of bills whilst £75m will be spent in off-licences. An equally staggering £17.8bn of cash will be withdrawn from ATMs and banks throughout December. The busiest day for ATMs is expected to be Friday 18th December as the festive party season gets in full swing and the high street buzzes with last minute Christmas shoppers. Peak time for ATM withdrawals is likely to be 12pm to 1pm lunchtime, when over £24,000 will be withdrawn every second. Brian Cunnington, head of debit cards for Barclays, commented: “We all know Christmas is the season of goodwill but that usually means it’s the season for spending as well. With so much shopping and entertaining to be done debit cards are set to be well used throughout the month. Nearly all shops, restaurants, bars and online companies accept debit cards so it is the easiest way to get your Christmas spending done quickly and securely. We would remind customers to be careful to take care of their card and their PIN, especially when using their PIN in crowded places. ***************************************************************************
M&S ads "help Waitrose sales" Waitrose this morning claimed that Marks & Spencer’s high-profile price comparison ad campaign has helped its own sales. This month, M&S began running ads featuring the strapline ” strapline “Price checked against Waitrose Essentials. Quality checked by M&S”. The John LewisPartnership-owned grocer said that Essential Waitrose lines featured in the ads soared, with tea bags up 96% and penne, sausages, spaghetti and teacakes all up by over 40%. “Maybe we should be thanking the M&S marketing department for highlighting the quality and value of our range,” said commercial director Richard Hodgson. Overall in the seven days to 7 November Waitroseenjoyed its highest sales growth in a normal trading week since 2006, with sales up 17.1%. Online business WaitroseDeliver showed sales up 86% year on year, helped by the abolition of delivery charges. Sister department store chain John Lewis also had a very strong week, with sales up 13.2%. There was double digit sales growth on six of the seven days and all but one store recorded a sales increase. Electricals and home technology was up over 20%, while furniture had a stunning week, up 33% with beds leading the way. Toys are enjoying a strong build-up to Christmas - particularly “anything animal related” according to director of selling operations Nat Wakely. news from www.retail-week.com *************************************************************************** Landlords call for retail therapy as 25,000
shops close New figures published by the Local Data Company show that 10% of retailers closed between January and September this year. From a survey of 251,462 firms across over 705 centres across the UK, 25,090 closed. In London alone, 7,628 firms shut their doors in the first nine months of the year. The British Property Federation (BPF) has called for greater government help to support retailers. The trade body has also been leading a charge to cut service charge costs for businesses and make business leases more transparent. The figures follow last week’s GDP figures and come months ahead of a planned increase in business rates which will put extra pressure on to tenants. Many retailers will see their rates bills massively increase because they have been reassessed based on property values on 1 April 2008. Research by BNP Paribas Real Estate has shown that the government has misled firms over the effects of the change. The bills companies face from April 2010 will be the first based on this revaluation. There are large regional disparities in business rates with retailers in the south west and London facing the biggest increases. Retailers pay a quarter of all business rates, despite being responsible for 8% of GDP. Added on top of this, many retailers, like landlords, have empty space they cannot re-let because of the recession. Landlords have been working closely with retailers to offer better terms and be more flexible. In July, Focus DIY was saved by its landlords rent concession, saving 5,000 jobs. Before that, JJB Sports had also been saved after it too agreed a company voluntary agreement with its creditors. However, successful retailers have been criticised for their moves to try and get out of leases too, even though they have not been in trouble. Landlords have stressed that maintaining rent levels is vital to allow them to invest in new property. Francis Salway, chief executive of Land Securities, the country’s biggest developer which last week opened Cardiff’s new shopping centre, said: "The downturn has been tough for property companies and retailers. There are instances of retailers still asking for concessions, and it can be in our interests to show flexibility in specific areas - and we have led on a number of such initiatives. However, we do not believe across the board changes to agreed contracts are appropriate." Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “Business secretary Lord Mandelson said the government’s empty property tax was ‘good for business’. But if charging a hardship tax on firms’ vacancies is the government’s idea of helping business then I’d hate to see him helping an old lady across the road. “Clearly no one is escaping the recession and it’s vital that ministers offer real help to businesses through a sensible mitigation of the impact of next year’s rise in business rates and a cut in empty property rates. In order to maintain investment in retail regeneration, developers need to be able to maintain returns which are generated from keeping rents at a certain level. “Basically, if landlords cannot earn money through rents, they cannot afford to rebuild our towns and cities. When you consider that just last week, Cardiff’s new St Davids 2 shopping centre opened employing 4,000 people, you realise the massive contribution these developments make to local economies. “Although the comparatively good performance of entertainment venues suggests Britons are still a fun-loving bunch, the high closure rate of department and fashion stores suggests that a more fundamental re-structuring of these sectors is on the cards, along with others that have an unsustainable level of competition.“ For more information go to www.localdatacompany.com *************************************************************************** Sainsbury takeover talk gathers pace Renewed speculation
about a possible bid by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund for Sainsbury’s
gathered pace yesterday after the fund sold 396 million shares in
Barclays. Qatar already owns a 26% stake in Sainsbury’s, and shares in the supermarket rose 5% following the speculation. Last week Sainsbury’s shares rose as much as 20% after renewed speculation first emerged. The Qataris pulled away from an offer of £10.5bn for the supermarket two years ago. news from www.retail-week.com *************************************************************************** ONS
- Retail growth mixed across sectors The volume of retail sales in August was 2.1% higher than in August 2008. Total sales volume in the three months to August was 2.7% higher than the same period a year ago. Sales volume for predominantly food stores increased by 2.9%. Predominantly non food stores increased by 1.7%. Within predominantly non-food stores, there was a mixed picture. Non-specialised stores increased by 4.9% and textiles, clothing and footwear stores increased by 8.8%, driven by an increase in clothing stores. Other stores decreased by 1.2% and household goods stores decreased by 4.8%, driven by a decrease in hardware stores. Non-store retailing and repair increased by 10.7%. Sales volume in the three months June to August 2009 increased by 1.2% when compared to the previous three months. Three-monthly growth increased by 1.2% for predominantly food stores while predominantly non-food stores increased 1.0%. Within predominantly non-food stores, all sectors showed growth apart from other stores which had no growth. The largest increase was in textile, clothing and footwear stores at 2.4%, driven by an increase in clothing stores. Non-store retailing and repair increased by 2.9%. Year on year, the volume of retail sales in August was 2.1% higher than in August 2008. Predominantly food stores increased by 3.3% compared to the same period a year ago. This is the highest increase, along with July 2006 since January 2005, when it was 4.7%. Predominantly non-food stores increased by 0.2%. Within predominantly non-food stores, there was a mixed picture.Non-specialised stores increased by 4.2% and textiles, clothing and footwear stores increased by 4.2%. Other stores decreased by 2.4% and household goods stores decreased by 3.9%, driven by a decrease in electrical stores. Non-store retailing and repair increased by 12.4%. ***************************************************************************
The new ghost towns on UK high streets Towns that rely on a few big-name
retailers to drive shopper footfall are being marred by voids as
spiralling closures hammer trade. Ben Cooper visits some of the worst
affected areas to assess the fallout. news from www.retail-week.com *************************************************************************** Retail sales figures comment from Barclays Commenting on the May 2009 retail sales figures from the Office of National Statistics, Richard Lowe, head of retail and wholesale, Barclays Commercial Bank said: "Retail sales are in a holding pattern. With a slight fall in May and growth in the past three months compared to a year earlier continuing to slow, expectations of a positive increase this month have not been met. However, looking at the numbers over the past nine months evidence suggests that retail sales numbers are moving sideways. "Sterling's continued recovery against the US dollar and the euro sheds a welcome light on the sector for all those who have budgeted to operate beneath the current exchange levels. There are encouraging signs that this will keep having a positive effect later into the year and will ease many concerns of operating under over-cautious expectations. "A re-invigorated supply chain has not meant that retailers are losing track of the need to follow lessons learned in recent months and stock levels remain well controlled. The need for aggressive marketing and wide-scale reductions called for in post-Christmas sales will not be requisite in the summer sale season now upon us as retailers mark a return to business as usual." |