Not your average kitchen: John Lewis launches smart home concept at Oxford Street flagship April 7, 2016 John Lewis has prepared for the day when homes will be crammed with Wallace and Gromit-style gadgets by launching an area dedicated to smart home technology in its Oxford Street flagship. The department store chain has today opened a 1,000 square feet space showcasing its most cutting edge range of futuristic inventions – from ovens that can controlled from your phone to smart [...]
The Co-Operative Group is back on track as it unveils profit growth and flat group revenues April 7, 2016 The Co-Operative Group has said it is "firmly on track" as it unveils like-for-like growth in its food, convenience and funerals businesses and a rise in underlying profit. The figures The struggling business heralded "stable" group revenues at £9.3bn (though this was down from £9.4bn last year), with food like-for-likes up 1.6 per cent, and volumes up five [...]
Marks & Spencer’s share price soars as it reveals better-than-expected fourth quarter figures in Steve Rowe’s first results (but clothing is still down) April 7, 2016 Marks & Spencer's share price soared more than three per cent this morning after posting a better-than-expected set of fourth quarter results – albeit yet another set of declines in general merchandise. The figures Group sales at the high street giant were up 1.9 per cent in the 13 weeks to 26 March, but as with [...]
Moss Bros’ share price jumps as suit-seller says it’s scrubbing up well April 5, 2016 Shares in suit hire specialist and retailer Moss Bros rose by as much as eight per cent in early trading after a revamp of its stores and a sharper range of products helped deliver a 23 per cent increase in profits. Like-for-like sales rose by 8.2 per cent to £119m for the 52 weeks to 31 [...]
Koovs’ share prices leaps by a third after sales at Indian online retailer beat forecasts April 5, 2016 Koovs' share price leapt this morning after the Indian-focused online retailer said sales almost tripled last year to hit £10m for the first time. The company, which was founded four years ago by former Asos chairman Lord Waheed Alli, said sales jumped by 189 per cent to 981m Indian rupee (£10m) in the year to 31 March. Visitors to [...]
Card Factory share price climbs as profits lifted by online sales though the retailer is warning over living wage costs April 5, 2016 Online shopping sales and personalised presents have pushed retailer Card Factory to a 25 per cent increase in profits for the last year. The company's share price has jumped on the numbers climbing over three per cent by early afternoon trading. Underlying profit before tax hit £82m last year, up 25.2 per cent from £65.5m the year before. [...]
Europe goes shopping as prices keep dropping, but confidence may be short-lived April 5, 2016 The Eurozone was treated to a rare piece of good economic news this morning, as official figures showed households are buying 2.4 per cent more retail products than this time last year, though economists were pessimistic about how the long the feel-good factor would stick around. According to Eurostat, the EU’s official number crunchers, bumper [...]
Supermarket sales rise over Easter – but prove egg-sasperating for Tesco, Morrisons and Asda April 5, 2016 It could have been so easy for supermarkets. Not only are prices at an all-time low, but an early Easter pushed sales up compared with last year, new figures have shown. But while the Easter bunny hopped along to most of the nation's retailers, the big four continued to struggle. The figures, by Kantar Worldpanel, showed sales [...]
Area guide: Woolwich – why it’s tomorrow’s town April 1, 2016 It’s an unfortunate consequence of over-enthusiastic estate agents that an area described as “up-and-coming” is often, well, getting there but taking its sweet time about it. Woolwich was one such place for a long time, but 2016 is the year SE18 arrives on the property scene. “Woolwich has been touted as up-and-coming for the last [...]
Manolo Blahnik stepping into world of e-commerce with the help of boutique platform Farfetch March 31, 2016 Iconic shoemaker Manolo Blahnik has launched its first e-commerce site utilising Farfetch's new white label service. Farfetch, an e-commerce site for selected boutiques around the world, will use its Black and White service to power the brand's online sales. Its new division will offer monobrand e-commerce sites to luxury brands and Manolo Blahnik's was the first to [...]