The future of shopping malls and what it means for property investors August 30, 2017 The growth of e-commerce is reshaping the retail world. Online sales have been growing globally at an annual rate of close to 25% in recent years. This holds ramifications for the world’s shopping centres and malls as retailers re-evaluate their ‘bricks and mortar’ store strategies. Investors in commercial real estate funds, which often own retail [...]
London shopping: H&M Group unveils new vision for retail with opening of Arket brand on Regent Street August 24, 2017 H&M Group is set to unveil its new approach to retail tomorrow with the launch of its Arket brand in London. The store on Regent Street will sell clothes for men and women as well as homeware items in a format that is intended to appeal to shoppers looking for more than just products, but [...]
Is it still possible to find value in retail stocks? August 23, 2017 With the wider market so clearly out-of-love with the retail sector in general, it should come as no surprise that so many of its members are now flashing up as being of potential interest to value investors. On our Value Perspective blog, we certainly anticipate spending a lot of our time over the coming months [...]
Amazon: Is this the end for ‘old-school’ retailers? August 22, 2017 If you are a regular reader of the financial press, you could be forgiven for thinking some kind of corporate serial killer is currently on the loose. On an almost daily basis, fresh obituaries appear for retail businesses and there is a strong consensus on who is to blame – the global phenomenon that is [...]
British wine lovers look to Eastern Europe and Portugal as wine price rises August 21, 2017 Sales of wine from Eastern European countries have quadrupled at the UK’s largest wine retailer since the Brexit vote. Figures released yesterday by Majestic Wine show that British consumers are turning away from the traditional wine regions as the average price of a bottle reaches an all-time high of £5.55. Read more: It’s official: Wine [...]
DAC Group has acquired Edinburgh-based digital marketing specialist Ambergreen August 15, 2017 Edinburgh based Ambergreen has joined forces with one of the largest independent digital marketing agencies in North America. When Canadian digital media agency DAC Group was exploring growth opportunities in Europe, Edinburgh-based digital marketing specialist Ambergreen was a natural fit. "DAC is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and has about 400 people across 16 offices,” explains [...]
No need to worry about China’s debt bubble…yet August 8, 2017 China's debt mountain is massive, and concerns around the sustainability of the country’s credit-fuelled expansion are showing no signs of dissipating. The world’s second largest economy has certainly had its fair share of bad news recently after Moody’s downgraded its credit rating in May amid fears the nation’s growth rate would slow in the next [...]
Endless buys struggling iconic luggage brand Antler from private equity firm LDC July 26, 2017 Private equity house Endless, which specialises in moving businesses on after a challenging period, has bought struggling luggage retailer Antler from fellow firm LDC. Since LDC invested in the business in 2010, Antler has been through some tricky periods. In its last filed accounts, for the year ending December 2014, the company made an operating [...]
The FTSE in 2017: six charts that tell the story so far July 25, 2017 The FTSE 100, 250 and All-Share indices have all made strong gains and reached record highs in the first half of 2017. The strong performance of London-listed shares is somewhat surprising given the backdrop – June’s snap general election arguably left the government in a weaker position going into Brexit negotiations, while household finances are [...]
‘Personalised pricing’ could soon make it cheaper to buy your lunch at 3pm July 21, 2017 These days, consumers have generally come to terms with the idea the price they are asked to pay for, say, a train ticket or hotel room can fluctuate – and sometimes quite markedly – depending on when they make the purchase. It would presumably still come as a shock, however, if their local supermarket charged [...]