Retail sales defy gloomy predictions ahead of a bumper Black Friday November 18, 2016 Retail sales have outperformed expectations ahead of the nation's biggest shopping spree – Black Friday. According to the Office for National Statistics, the volume of retail sales increased by 7.3 per cent in October compared to the same month in 2015 – the highest growth rate for fourteen years. The amount spent online grew by [...]
World’s largest Lego store opens in London’s Leicester Square November 17, 2016 The world's biggest Lego store opened its doors in London's Leicester Square earlier today. The store, which is the 131st to open worldwide, features a life-sized Underground Tube carriage, where visitors can pretend to take a trip with a Royal Guard and a rather famous bard, but without the signal failures. The carriage, which took [...]
Gap shares slump as profits unravel for most recent quarter November 17, 2016 Shares in Gap have plummeted in after hours trading, after the retail giant revealed its incomes and sales had fallen during its most recent quarter. The figures Net income for the retailer for the 13 weeks to 29 October slipped to $204m (£164.2m), down 18 per cent from $248m for the same period the year before. [...]
Londoners are the most likely to take work off to bag a bargain on Black Friday November 17, 2016 Why work when you could shop? It seems a healthy chunk of us have been asking ourselves that very question, and have decided to skip work for the year's biggest day of discounting – Black Friday. According to a survey by discount retailer The Original Factory Shop (Tofs), seven per cent of us intend to [...]
E-cigarette innovation is stalling, a leading doctor has warned November 17, 2016 Innovation in electronic cigarettes will stall unless a bridging approach to new product regulations is made. New variants of e-cigarettes and next generation products risk being tied up in development, said James Murphy, head of reduced risk substantiation at British American Tobacco. Murphy gave a keynote speech today at the Next Generation Nicotine Delivery conference in [...]
Asda records ninth consecutive quarterly sales drop November 17, 2016 Asda has reported yet another sizeable drop in sales. The struggling retailer has posted a like-for-like sales drop of 5.8 per cent in the three months to the end of September. This is the the ninth quarterly fall in sales in a row for the company which is suffering due to intense price competition from discount [...]
Staples to disappear from the UK high street November 17, 2016 The Staples brand will disappear from UK high streets over the coming months. The sale of the UK arm of Staples to restructuring business Hilco Capital puts the future of around 1,100 staff working in 106 stores across the country into question. Staples, Inc. has sold its UK retail business for a "nominal" amount while the company focuses on [...]
Retail sales defied expectations amid Brexit fears in October as prices fell everywhere except petrol stations November 17, 2016 UK retail sales grew at their highest rate since April 2002, amid fears that spending could be hampered by uncertainty around Brexit. The volume of retail sales increased by 7.3 per cent in October, compared to the same month in 2015, while the amount spend rose 6.6 per cent on an annual basis, according to [...]
Weak sterling will push up the price of wine and there’s nothing anyone can do about it, Majestic’s chief executive has warned November 17, 2016 First it came for our Marmite. Then it came for our Toblerones. Now, weak sterling is pushing up the price of wine, the chief executive of one of the UK's largest booze retailers has warned. Rowan Gormley, the boss of Majestic Wine, said consumers can expect wine everywhere to go up in price – "until we grow [...]
British consumers spend £21.7b on impulse buys each year, and more than half spend impulsively every time they shop November 16, 2016 If you can't resist picking up a few more items to add to your shopping bag while standing in the checkout queue, you're not alone. British consumers were found to spend an estimated £21.7b on impulse purchases each year. The average consumer spends an estimated £416 every year on irresistible items that they don't actually need, according to [...]