Latest Retail Insight, News, Information & Articles from all top sources for the Internet.

// More than 1,600 Co-op workers have taken action against the business over complaints // The Co-op has now conceded a “comparability concession” in the case Co-op shop floor workers have won a key legal argument in a battle to secure equal pay with warehouse staff. More than 1,600 mostly female Co-op workers took action against the Manchester-headquartered business over complaints that they are being paid less than colleagues in the retailer’s distribution centres. The shop-workers said they should receive pay similar to the mostly male distribution colleagues, who were paid up to £3 more an hour. READ MORE: Co-op is Britain’s ‘least hygienic’ grocery chain Co-op extends its rapid delivery Amazon partnership to Bristol The Co-op has now conceded a “comparability concession” in the case, a step towards recognising the different roles are of equal value. But it said its workers were “fairly” paid and the battle was far from over. It comes amid similar equal pay ba

// New Look announces plans to become climate positive by 2040 // The retailer is also pledging to halve greenhouse gas emissions from products by 2030 New Look has today published an update to its Sustainability Strategy, including a new commitment to become a ‘climate positive’ business by 2040. The fashion retailer is also looking to halve the greenhouse gas emissions from its products by 2030. The climate positive commitment will see New Look strive to reduce its environmental impact across a range of key factors. This includes the circularity of its products and packaging, and reducing emissions and water usage. READ MORE: Asda expands New Look partnership to 8 more stores New Look already classes 55% of its products as “Kind”, meaning that they are sourced with environmental impacts in mind, including the amount of cotton sourced through the Better Cotton Initiative. Now the retailer is aiming to ensure that 100% of its cotton is either recycled, organic or from the i

 Rustic Art first attempted to enter the physical retail market with its beauty and personal care line in the early 2000s, but driven by a lack of awareness among consumers at the time about safe-to-use products that were manufactured without harming the environment, the brand faced resistance and had limited reach. Then, in 2014, it […] from Indiaretailing.com https://ift.tt/o0kcMrRjU via IFTTT

RELIANCE BRANDS LIMITED (RBL) has partnered with designer Rahul Mishra to create a new 60:40 joint venture. The new brand will present an exclusive ready to wear collection at one of the global fashion week, an official statement highlighted. The statement also mentioned that the brand will grow vertically and horizontally to cross pollinate creativity […] from Indiaretailing.com https://ift.tt/dhIKV2cxU via IFTTT

// VF Corporation falls after cutting its revenue outlook amid supply chain woes // The company, which owns brands such as The North Face, Supreme, and Vans now expects revenue for fiscal 2022 to be around $11.85 billion VF Corp shares have slipped after cutting its revenue outlook for the year amid a slowdown in its activewear brands and international sales. The group also said it was hit by delivery delays and worker shortages at Vietnam factories due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The maker of Vans, Supreme and The North Face now expects revenue of about $11.85 billion for the fiscal year ending around April 1, down from a prior view of about $12 billion. READ MORE: VF Corp aims for zero waste in its distribution centers by end of 2021 VF Corporation appoints vice president of investor relations Adjusted gross margin is now projected to be at least 55%, down one percentage point from the company’s October forecast. Operating profit was up by 40% to £479 million during the

// Studio has warned its profits are set to be lower than market expectations and is to raise its prices // Studio is now expecting adjusted pre-tax profit for the full year to be in a range of £28 million to £30 million Online value retailer Studio Retail Group has warned its profits are set to be lower than market expectations and that it will be looking to raise its prices. The Lancashire-headquartered listed company has said its adjusted pre-tax profits for its full financial year are now likely to be between £28 million and £30 million, down from the current market expectation of £35 million. In a trading update for the third quarter period, to December 24, the group revealed the widespread supply chain challenges during 2021 not only led to higher shipping costs, but also to late-arriving unsold stock, which will need to be sold throughout 2022. READ MORE:  Studio creates new data team of 35 members Product sales in the eight weeks prior to 25 November were down 21% aga

// Accessorize welcomes Emma Alexander as new managing director // Alexander previously worked as fashion director of the Very Group for nearly four years Monsoon Accessorize has hired Emma Alexander as the new managing director for its Accessorize brand. Alexander has previously worked as fashion director of the Very Group for nearly four years where she led Littlewoods, Very and Very Exclusive. She will join Accessorize in March, as part of the fashion accessories retailer’s recent hiring spree. She replaces former Accessorize managing director, Kathleen Mitchell, who left the company last year to join John Lewis as trading director. READ MORE: Monsoon Accessorize Trust continues to support communities in Afghanistan Alexander exited Very Group this month amid a reshuffle of its category management team. She joined the group, which operates Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.com, in 2018 from Jack Wills, where she was chief product officer with responsibility for all categories

// Walgreens Boots Alliance is understood to have launched the sales process for Boots //  Walgreens plans to send preliminary information on Boots to potential suitors ahead of first-round bids due in the coming weeks Private equity groups are circling Boots as its US owner kicks off a sale of the 172-year-old pharmacy chain. Walgreens Walgreens Boots Alliance is preparing to send out preliminary information on Boots to potential suitors ahead of first-round bids due in the coming weeks, according to Bloomberg . Boots, which has 2,200 stores in Britain and employs around 55,000 people, is expected to be valued at as much as £7 billion. READ MORE:  Which companies are in the running to take over Boots? Asda owners consider £10bn Boots takeover Buyout firms including American private equity group Sycamore Partners are understood to be mulling bids for Boots, prompting its owner Walgreens to launch a sales process to offload its UK operations. Other buyout firms including

// Asda has suspended its drawn-out search for a new chief executive // The big 4 supermarket chain has been without a boss since last August Asda has temporarily suspended its search for a new chief executive to succeed Roger Burnley, with Mohsin Issa understood to be heavily involved in day-to-day operations of the supermarket chain. Britain’s third biggest grocer has been without a boss since last August, when  Roger Burnley left ahead of schedule after a disagreement over strategy with Asda’s new owners. The Issa brothers, the petrol forecourt tycoons, and TDR Capital, the private equity investor, completed their £6.8 billion takeover of Asd a last year and since then Mohsin Issa, 50, is said to have been spending the bulk of his time at the grocer’s headquarters in Leeds. READ MORE: Asda follows Poundland’s footsteps in selling £1 engagement rings Asda owners consider £10bn Boots takeover Asda has 633 stores in the UK and 145,000 employees and the search for a rep

// B&M’s operations director is leaving the discount retailer to become Post Office chief retail officer // Roberts had been at B&M’s since January 2016 The Post Office has named B&M’s UK operations director Martin Roberts as its new chief retail officer. Roberts will take overall responsibility for the Post Office’s network of 11,500 branches across the UK and will work with the organisation’s postmasters and strategic partners in the running of its franchise businesses. He will also oversee the Post Office’s streamlined cash distribution operation across the UK, with over £3 billion in cash distributed each month at its branches. READ MORE: B&M value drops as CEO Simon Arora sells 40 million shares The Post Office will soon let you buy Bitcoin through its app Roberts currently holds the position of B&M’s UK operations director, a role has held since January 2016. He has also worked as head of retail and online at Vodafone, retail director at Wickes  a

Last week Retail Gazette revealed that Next is to open its first UK department store, bringing fashion, beauty and home together in one giant shop. The Next store is not the only notable shop making its debut in 2022, there are many more landmark shops opening their doors that are set to make their mark on the UK high street. Retail Gazette rounds up eight of the best. Next, Atria Watford Fresh from opening its first Beauty and Home stores in 2020, Next is developing a department store in Atria Watford, bringing fashion, beauty and home together for the first time, which opens in April this year. The retailer has been building a department store offer online for a while with an expanding array of third party brands and a fast-growing beauty division but the retailer has clearly spotted an opportunity to bring that wider offer to the high street. Next opened its first Beauty stores in 2020. The 94,000 sq ft, three storey store is actually a relocation of its existing fashion s

// Crew Clothing to open 8 to 12 new stores across the UK and Ireland // The retailer is set to launch on Very.co.uk next month Crew Clothing is reportedly set to open eight to 12 stores across the UK and Ireland this year. The fashion retailer’s chief executive David Butler said it will focus on acquiring stores in market towns and coastal locations. The plans for new store openings comes as a result of the company “testing” store expansions throughout the pandemic, Drapers reported. READ MORE: Crew Clothing relocates & expands national flagship Three stores are expected to open by mid-April, located in Kildare in Ireland and two in the south-east of England. In 2020, Crew Clothing opened 20 stores across the UK, including Milton Keynes and Exeter, taking its store portfolio to around 100. Butler said he has “no intention” to seek out stores in large cities, and will instead expand its presence in those locations by focusing on third-party partnerships with retailer

// Dolce & Gabbana goes fur free as part of commitment with In Defense of Animals // The animal protection organisation has been campaigning to end the fur trade since the 1980s Dolce & Gabbana has said it is going fur and Angora free with the international animal protection organisation, In Defense of Animals (IDA). IDA celebrated the Dolce & Gabbana announcement after 9000 people signed an alert urging the company go fur-free. The organisation has been campaigning to end the fur trade since the 1980s. READ MORE: Dolce & Gabbana files £434m lawsuit after bloggers expose racist messages Dolce & Gabbana is one of many fashion houses enacting a fur ban. In Defense of Animals is urging more designers to follow in Dolce & Gabbana’s footsteps. “Clothing and accessories needn’t harm animals. We urge all designers to follow suit by ditching all fabrics made from animal fur and skin,” Communications director, Fleur Dawes said. Click here to sign up to Ret

// Ann Summers boss said online team will help lingerie retailer return to profitability // The retailer was affected in recent years by high rents and the dramatic shift to online Ann Summers chief executive Jacqueline Gold has reportedly said the lingerie remains confident that its digital sales team will help it return to profitability. The retailer was affected in recent years by high rents and the dramatic shift to online shopping as well as Brexit uncertainty. Gold said retailers and landlords must “come together” to help each other as both have been through a tough time, The Telegraph reported. READ MORE: “Men assume short women are not CEOs”, Ann Summers boss says Gold has secured lower rents for most of her 87 stores and has been busy modernising the chain, with further plans to open more shops. Ann Summers has taken advantage of the rise in online shopping by improving its website and working with social media influencers such as Maura Higgins. The retailer sai

India’s retail market is expected to become a $1.5 trillion market by 2030, from $0.793 trillion in 2020. The major drivers of this growth are socio-demographic and economic factors such as urbanization, rise of income growth etc. The Union budget is all set to be presented in the Parliament on 1st February 2022 by Nirmala […] from Indiaretailing.com https://ift.tt/3g6Z4Y2 via IFTTT

// The Savage x Fenty lingerie brand has secured $125 million in new funding //  Following the US openings, store openings in Europe could follow at a later date. The lingerie brand Savage x Fenty has reportedly secured investment totalling $125 million (£93.13m) in its latest funding round. Founded by pop start Rhianna, the retailer is also opening its first physical store with the launch of a shop in Las Vegas this week. According to a report by Forbes , the new funds are the result of a Series C funding round led by Neuberger Berman. Other participants included previous investors L Catterton, Avenir, Sunley House Capital, Advent International and Marcy Venture Partners, as well as newcomers Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, LionTree and Multiply Group. READ MORE: How Savage X Fenty used social media to solidify itself as a top lingerie… It brings the total venture capital funding raised by Savage X Fenty to $310 million, following a $115 million Series B round in February. Launched

// The Very Group retail managing director has merged its four category teams into two // Fashion director Emma Alexander and developing categories director Jeremy Stevens will exit the business New Very Group retail managing director, former Fenwick chief executive Robbie Feather, has reshuffled his team and changed the structure of the retail division. Feather, who joined the online retailer in November, has streamlined its categories from four – fashion, electricals, developing categories, and home – to two, leading to the exit of fashion director Emma Alexander and developing categories director Jeremy Stevens. Current retail commercial director Sam Wright will lead the new fashion, sports, leisure and home category, while electricals boss Victoria Aldrich will head up the new electricals, beauty, toys and gift category, according to Retail Week. Current home director Mike Wheeler will run a new retail operations team designed to tackle supply chain issues, focusing on st

// H&M profits increase as the retailer bounces back from effects of Covid-19 // Gross profit grew 12.3% to £8.34bn in the full year H&M has recorded a “strong recovery” as full-year profits increased in the year to November 30, 2021, a nearly a sevenfold increase on the previous year’s earnings of SEK 2 billion (£163.1 million). The fashion retailer recorded a profit after financial items of SEK 14.3 billion (£1.14 billion) during the period while gross profit grew 12.3% to SEK 105 billion (£8.34 billion). Sales across the group rose 6% in constant currencies to SEK 198.97 billion (£15.8 billion). H&M chief executive Helena Helmersson set out ambitious plans to double group sales by 2030 while halving its carbon emissions, when unveiling the profits rise. It will open stores in six new markets in 2022 – Kosovo, North Macedonia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Cambodia – and launch an online proposition in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Colombia and Peru. Helmers

// The number of vacant stores across UK has dropped, according to BRC-LDC Vacancy Monitor // High street vacancies declined slightly to 14.4% in the fourth quarter of the year New research has found that the overall store vacancy rate across the UK has improved in the final quarter of 2021 as the number of vacant stores declined for the first time since the start of 2018. The rate of store vacancies across Great Britain stood at 14.4% in the final quarter of 2021, according to the BRC-LDC Vacancy Monitor. This marked a slight improvement from the 14.5% reported in the third quarter and was 0.7% higher than the same quarter in 2020. READ MORE: How a rise in retail vacancies can affect the UK’s high streets Vacancies in shopping centres improved to 19.1% in the fourth quarter compared with 19.4% in the third. High street vacancies declined slightly to 14.4% in the fourth quarter of the year. This figure was 14.5% in the third quarter. Retail parks reported the lowest rate

Since Amazon launched its first checkout-free store in the UK last year there has been a flurry of activity from the big grocers to follow suit. Big 4 leader Tesco opened its first checkout-free store called GetGo in late October last year in Holborn, London and just last week Aldi launched its own version in Greenwich. They are not alone. Sainsbury’s opened a till-less store just down the street from Tesco GetGo in Holborn in April 2019, but reintroduced tills five months later as customers struggled with the system. Meanwhile, Morrisons is testing its own vision of the technology, codenamed Project Sarah, at its Bradford headquarters and has plans to quickly roll out dozens of small stores at busy locations. Retail Gazette checks out the checkout-free stores currently operations and xxxxxxxxxxx Amazon Fresh Amazon is rapidly expanding its contactless grocery shop Amazon Fresh and already has 15 shops across London with plans to open 260 by 2025. The contactless grocery shop

Guess, a global fashion brand has announced to expand its retail presence with the opening of its third store in Phoenix Marketcity, Pune, an official statement highlighted.  The store opening brings back GUESS to the consumers who love the brand for its iconic range of denims, dresses, apparel, shoes, handbags, accessories and so much more. The […] from Indiaretailing.com https://www.indiaretailing.com/2022/01/28/retail/guess-opens-its-third-store-in-punes-phoenix-marketcity-mall/ via IFTTT

Lenskart, an eye-wear brand has announced to launch 73 stores on the occasion of India’s 73rd Republic Day across 46 cities and 19 states, an official statement highlighted.  The company  aims to set-up a total of 400 stores in the FY 2022, out of which 73 stores predominantly in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala,  Bihar, […] from Indiaretailing.com https://www.indiaretailing.com/2022/01/28/retail/lenskart-launches-73-stores-on-republic-day/ via IFTTT

The Omicron-led third wave of Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in resurgence in fresh Covid-19 infections leading to restrictions by various state governments impacting the trading values for the retail store operators and hindering the rental recovery for mall operators. The footfalls in the malls are witnessing a declining trend from the first week of January […] from Indiaretailing.com https://ift.tt/3fYP6rR via IFTTT

New York Burrito Company announced the launch of its 18th outlet in Palladium, Phoenix Mills at Lower Parel, an official statement highlighted. New York Burrito Company is aggressively expanding its outlets across Mumbai to make sure that great quality and easy-on-the-wallet Mexican food is easily accessible to all who want to enjoy fresh & authentic […] from Indiaretailing.com https://ift.tt/3H6gpwh via IFTTT