Category Archives: Retail industry

Shein turns to Hong Kong for flotation as London attempt stalls, reports say

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Fast-fashion retailer struggling to gain go-ahead from Chinese regulators for UK listing

Shein is reportedly aiming to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange as the online fast-fashion retailer struggles to gain the go-ahead from Chinese regulators for a flotation in London.

The company, which was founded in China where the majority of its suppliers are based but now has its headquarters in Singapore, is aiming to file a draft prospectus with Hong Kong’s stock exchange in the coming weeks, according to Reuters.

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Target sales fall sharply in first quarter as customers worry about tariffs

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Retailer warns sales will slip for all of 2025 as customers pull back spending amid fears over tariffs and economy

Sales at Target fell more than expected in the first quarter, and the retailer warned they will slip for all of 2025 year as its customers, worried over the impact of tariffs and the economy, pull back on spending.

Target also said that customer boycotts have also done some damage during the latest quarter. The company scaled back many diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in January after they came under attack by conservative activists and the White House. Target’s retreat created another backlash, with more customers angered by the retailer’s reduction of LGBTQ+-themed merchandise for Pride month in June of 2023.

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Rising goods prices could delay UK interest rate cuts, says Bank policymaker

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Bank of England’s Catherine Mann wary of firms looking to rebuild profit margins after a squeeze

Businesses will need to show they are keeping a lid on prices before there can be further interest rate cuts, according to the Bank of England interest rate-setter Catherine Mann.

In a warning to retailers and consumer goods companies to resist pushing up prices by more than the increase in their costs, Mann said she was wary of firms looking to rebuild their profit margins after a squeeze in recent years.

“I need to see the loss of pricing power, I need to see that firms are starting to be much more moderate in setting their prices,” she said.

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UK food shops report ‘massive’ rise in pensioner shoplifting

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Kingdom Services boss says retailers seeing ‘different sort of shoplifter’ with more theft by people ‘who just can’t afford food’

Food retailers have seen a “massive” increase in pensioner shoplifters over the last year, according to a leading store security firm, amid the rising cost of living.

John Nussbaum, director of service for retail at Kingdom Services Group, has said his staff were seeing a “different sort of shoplifter now” as the cost of living “pushes people to something they’ve never done before”.

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From snail slime to salmon sperm: the K-beauty boom hits UK high streets

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South Korean skincare retailers want to capitalise on viral sales of beauty ranges by opening stores across the UK

Korean beauty products are moving from phone screens to UK high streets as social media drives sales of skincare with the help of eye-catching ingredients such as snail slime and salmon sperm.

Retailers are looking to capitalise on the TikTok and Instagram trend for skincare and makeup ranges from South Korea – known as K-beauty – by opening physical stores and launching brands in a push to get consumers to pick up products that havegone viral online.

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UK Ikea boss backs calls to pedestrianise Oxford Street as flagship store opens

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New outlet due to welcome shoppers on Thursday regarded as key to helping revive famous London thoroughfare

The UK boss of Ikea has backed calls to pedestrianise Oxford Street as the world’s largest furniture retailer finally opens its delayed store in London’s prime shopping destination.

The Swedish company’s three-floor shop in the building that used to be Topshop’s former flagship store, with a mix of meatballs, lampshades and kitchen design assistance, opens on Thursday, 18 months later than planned.

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Primark owner’s shares drop as sales fall amid Trump tariff fears

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Company says consumer confidence could deteriorate further as countries face risk of recession

Shares in the owner of Primark fell after the budget clothing chain posted a sharp drop in UK sales and lost market share, as the company warned that consumer confidence was likely to worsen further amid Donald Trump’s trade wars.

Associated British Foods (ABF), which also owns a sugar business and food brands such as Ryvita and Kingsmill, said several countries could slide into recession as a result of US trade policy.

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Adidas warns Trump tariffs will put up US shoe prices

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Company had strong first quarter but says it cannot raise outlook for this year owing to tariffs uncertainty

Adidas has said the price of its popular trainers, including the Samba and Campus models, is likely to rise as a result of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The German group said the uncertainty around US import tariffs had prevented it from raising its outlook for sales and profit this year despite reporting strong first-quarter results.

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M&S betting on customer patience as cyber-attack threatens to ruin 2025’s strong start

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Fashion revival and warm weather had boosted the retailer – but the attack has halted website sales

Marks & Spencer was enjoying a strong start to 2025 thanks to a fashion revival and the warm spring weather. That has now been seriously undermined as the retailer scrambles to deal with disruption caused by a massive cyber-attack it first revealed a week ago.

At a time when M&S – alongside most big retailers – are pushing more automation on its customers and workers, industry insiders say the retailer’s staff have been forced to return to pens, paper and clipboards to check stock in stores as internal systems have been put on hold.

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M&S pauses deliveries of some food items to Ocado after cyber-attack

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Hack has wiped more than £500m off Marks & Spencer’s stock market value in the past week

Marks & Spencer has been forced to pause deliveries of some packaged food items to the online grocery site Ocado as the high street stalwart continues to battle the consequences of a cyber-attack that began a week ago.

The latest issue is understood to affect a small number of items listed on Ocado, which is co-owned by M&S, which halted all orders through its M&S.com website and apps on Friday. M&S did not confirm the number of items affected but said it had worked with Ocado and its suppliers “to minimise any disruption to the small proportion of the range delivered through our network to Ocado”.

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M&S cyber-attack: when will orders be back, and is my data at risk?

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Marks & Spencer has halted orders on its website and apps, giving customers a refund for those placed after Wednesday

The cyber-attack at Marks & Spencer is continuing to cause chaos for shoppers, with no clarity yet as to when the retailer’s systems will be fully back up and running.

Website orders remain on hold for the fourth day in a row, and those affected also include customers waiting to collect orders or wanting to spend or buy M&S gift cards, as well as users of the retailer’s Sparks customer reward scheme.

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‘Welcome green shoots’: warm March weather gives 1.1% lift to UK retail sales

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Spring sunshine boosted spending on gardening, DIY and food products, but households are still ‘prudently budgeting’ as bills rise

Warm weather in March helped give a lift to retailers despite a late Easter, with sales of gardening, DIY, food, and health and beauty products getting a boost from the spring sunshine.

Purchases for Mother’s Day also helped retail sales climb 1.1% last month, according to a British Retail Consortium-KPMG survey, keeping pace with February despite trading against a much stronger period a year before and a downturn in visitor numbers on high streets and in retail parks as more sales shifted online.

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Prada buys Versace in €1.25bn deal uniting Italy’s biggest fashion brands

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Prada has secured Versace at a €180m discount amid market turmoil and after months of speculation

Prada has agreed to buy the Versace fashion brand for €1.25bn ($1.38bn) from the fashion conglomerate Capri Holdings.

It comes after months of speculation about a potential deal to combine the two Italian fashion houses and, more recently, rumours that the acquisition was set to collapse after market upheaval in response to President Trump’s tariff policies.

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Cost of Easter rises as UK chocolate, lamb and hot cross bun prices soar

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Shoppers also face more ‘shrinkflation’ as manufacturers ‘try to offset rising production costs’

Exchanging Easter eggs and tucking into a roast dinner are among the highlights of the spring holiday but Britons face paying more for this year’s celebrations after a sharp rise in the price of essentials such as chocolate, lamb and hot cross buns.

A leg of lamb joint now costs on average £13.94 a kilo in supermarkets, which is 10%, or £1.31, more than last year, according to the price analysts Assosia. Over two years, the jump is nearly 27%, or approaching £3 more a kilo, based on the pre-promotion price across Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons.

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WH Smith name to disappear from high street in agreed £76m sale to Modella

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Under terms of deal with Hobbycraft owner, 233-year-old brand will become TGJones

WH Smith is to sell its 480 retail stores to the Hobbycraft owner, Modella Capital, in a deal worth £76m, and has confirmed that the 233-year-old brand will disappear from the high street after a “short transitional period”.

Under the terms of the deal, the high street business, which employs 5,000 staff, will be rebranded as TGJones. WH Smith is retaining its brand for its travel shops.

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Major UK investors join push for retail giants to pay workers ‘real living wage’

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Axa and Scottish Widows back ShareAction campaign for chains such as Next to pay at least £12.60 an hour

Major investors including Axa and Scottish Widows are backing shareholder resolutions pressing retailers Next, Marks & Spencer and JD Sports to increase pay for thousands of workers.

More than 100 individuals and eight institutional investors, which manage over £1tn in assets, are backing an effort to encourage companies to pay a “real living wage”, which is designed to ensure workers can cover necessary household costs.

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Ikea to open Oxford Street store in May after 18-month delay

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Swedish furniture retailer’s arrival is seen as crucial to hopes of reviving the London shopping street

Ikea will be bringing its mix of meatballs, lampshades and kitchen planning to London’s Oxford Street from 1 May, when the world’s largest furniture retailer finally opens its store 18 months late.

The company said its three-floor outlet, in the former Topshop base, would house a 130-seat Swedish deli and showrooms, as well as offering one-to-one design consultations.

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Nearly one in four Britons have witnessed shoplifting, study shows

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A similar number have also seen staff abused as shops say crime is spiralling out of control with 55,000 thefts a day

Nearly a quarter of Britons have witnessed shoplifting in the past year and seen physical or verbal abuse of shop workers as criminals become “bolder and more aggressive”.

A survey carried out for the British Retail Consortium (BRC) by the market research firm Opinium found Nottingham to be a UK hotspot for retail crime where 32% of residents said they had witnessed shoplifting. London was close behind on 29%.

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Boohoo rebrands as Debenhams as youth labels struggle

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Company says successful turnaround of the heritage brand will provide the blueprint for the rest of the group

The online fashion retailer Boohoo is rebranding as Debenhams, after buying it out of administration four years ago, as it took a £40m hit on excess stock in its brands aimed at younger shoppers.

Debenhams, founded as a single store in London in 1778, disappeared from the high street when it collapsed in 2021, costing thousands of jobs. Boohoo then swooped for the brand and relaunched it as an online-only retailer.

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US owner of UK pharmacy chain Boots to be taken private in $10bn deal

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Walgreens Boots Alliance sold to Sycamore Partners and ends almost a century of trading on public markets

The US owner of the high street pharmacy chain Boots is to be taken private in a $10bn (£7.8bn) deal that will bring an end to almost a century of trading on public markets for Walgreens Boots Alliance.

The company, which operates more than 1,800 Boots stores in the UK, has been sold to the US private equity firm Sycamore Partners after struggling in the internet era as customers have turned to online shopping for cheaper products.

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