Drapers
6 October 2007
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Asos sales rocket 80%
Etail giant ASOS.com recorded an 80% sales hike for the six months to September 30. -
Bench and Hooch owner strengthens management team
Americana, the owner of Bench and Hooch, has strengthened its management team with a raft of new appointments including new chairman Mike Metcalf, the former chief operating officer at Burberry. -
Blacks rebels meet Adrian Wright to discuss CEO role
Former Moss Bros chief executive Adrian Wright is understood to be meeting with rebel Blacks Leisure shareholders this week about taking the chief executive role at the retailer. -
Blog: Marks and Spencer's green streak
Marks & Spencer, the high street’s environmentally-friendly champion, has opened the first of its ‘eco-stores’ this week. -
BRC calls for minimum wage controls
The new minimum wage comes into force today, as the British Retail Consortium said that last year’s hike cost retailers £1.7 billion - 13% above expectations. -
BSSA asks indies to complete trade survey
The British Shops and Stores Association’s new quarterly sales monitor for independent retailers has gone live. -
Chunk completes management buy-out after MD calls it a day
Managers at young fashion T-shirt brand Chunk have staged a management buy-out of the business. -
Column: Autumn brings sales bonanza but will Christmas be crackers?
It seems that all that talk of doom and gloom was premature and fashion retailers are actually reporting a cracking start to autumn sales. -
D2 says first-ever loss is ‘just a blip’
Sir Tom Hunter’s young fashion chain D2 has posted the first loss in its six-year history. Accounts filed this week at Companies House showed sales at the business were flat at £50 million for the year to January 31, while pre-tax losses hit £1.7m against a pre-tax profit of £1.4m the previous year. -
Ethical issues are not black and white
Just as the media builds up celebrities with the sole purpose of being able to knock them down again, so they seem to be taking great glee in bashing the fast fashion market, which they themselves helped to create. -
Ethical issues are not black and white
Just as the media builds up celebrities with the sole purpose of being able to knock them down again, so they seem to be taking great glee in bashing the fast fashion market, which they themselves helped to create. -
Faith leads race to win Envy concessions deal
Faith is expected to win the footwear concessions deal with menswear chain Envy when the contract expires next year, delivering a blow to rival concessionaire Dolcis. -
Four Marketing set to snap up Woodhouse
Brand agency Four Marketing is close to sealing a deal to buy Speciality Retail Group’s menswear fascia Woodhouse. -
French Connection signs new ad agency for spring 08 campaigns
French Connection is understood to have hired a new creative agency for spring 08. A source close to the company said it had brought in US agency Baron & Baron to oversee the future direction of its ad campaigns. -
FrostFrench store targeted by burglars
FrostFrench's store in London's Islington has been burgled, just three weeks after it opened. -
Green is the new black
I received a lot of compliments about a new bag I was carrying on Saturday. But it wasn’t Mulberry’s Mabel or another designer style. -
HoF chairman defends new terms after suppliers threaten to pull out
House of Fraser chairman Don McCarthy has hit back at suppliers threatening to pull out of the department store chain because of its new terms. -
HoF rejigs its womenswear team for the second time
House of Fraser has hired Bentalls womenswear boss Judy Cimdins as part of a second restructure of its womenswear team. -
Home shopping sales soar at Findel
Findel's home shopping division saw sales growth of 9% for the six months to September 30. -
House of Fraser plans small format fashion stores
Department store chain House of Fraser is developing a small store fashion format called HOF to roll-out into town centres and smaller scale cities. -
Internaçionale duo in shock exit
Two linchpins of the Internaçionale MBO team have left, just 12 months after the £45 million buyout. -
JJB to ‘re-energise’ its shopfit
JJB Sports plans to revamp its store portfolio to help distance itself from rival Sports Direct. -
John Lewis boosted by cold snap
John Lewis recorded a 7% sales rise for the week to September 29 thanks to the autumnal weather. -
John Lewis trials external staff in brand concessions
John Lewis is trialling the use of external staff to run some fashion concessions.The business, which is renowned for its unbiasedcustomer service, is understood to have allowed selected suppliers to bring in a handful of their own staff to man their departments. -
JoJo Maman Bébé on global expansion trail
Maternity retailer JoJo Maman Bébé will open its first international franchise in 2008 and four UK stores this year, as the company forecasts record annual growth. -
Jonathan Saunders finds his feet with Gola tie-up
Footwear brand Gola has collaborated with London Fashion Week designer Jonathan Saunders on a footwear line for spring 08. -
Karen Millen helps to build Mosaic’s sales
Womenswear chain Karen Millen helped Mosaic Fashions to turn in a stellar performance for the six months to July 28, with group sales soaring 92% to £407 million. -
Katharine Hamnett to sever Tesco tie-up
Katharine Hamnett has said that she is to pull her organic and fair-trade clothing range out of Tesco. -
Keeping trade fair
The big question this week – are multiples merely paying lip service to organic and fair trade clothing? It was Katharine Hamnett, perhaps the UK’s most visible flag bearer for organic and ethical fashion, who last week lit the touch paper on the debate. -
La Senza’s sales rise after store openings
Sales at lingerie retailer La Senza jumped 12.4% to £98.2 million for the year to March 31, compared with £87.4m the previous year. -
Lambert Howarth falls into administration
Footwear supply giant Lambert Howarth has gone into administration after failing to raise millions of pounds of desperately needed funding. -
Lambert Howarth in administration
Footwear supply giant Lambert Howarth has gone into administration. -
Luxury market to double
The rate of growth for global spend on luxury products will more than double over the next five years but clothing will lose out to the latest must-have watches and jewellery according to Verdict Research. -
M&S unveils Take That ad
Marks & Spencer has given the industry its first sneak preview of its new menswear ad campaign featuring boy band Take That. -
Management rejig as Daks hires new MD
Daks has drafted in a new managing director from its Japanese parent and signed a deal with German menswear brand Odermark to produce its ready-to-wear range. -
Matalan tackles its debt payment
Matalan said it is ahead of schedule on its debt repayments, amid rumours of tough trading. -
Monsoon Boss Secures Shareholder Support
Monsoon boss Peter Simon has been given the green light to take the company private by one of its key shareholders. -
Mosaic earnings rocket despite mixed performance across chains
Mosaic Fashions saw sales shoot up 92% to £407 million and EBITDA rocket 23% to £31.5m for the six months to July 28, following last year’s acquisition of Rubicon Retail. -
Moss Bros adds suits to revamped website
Moss Bros will relaunch its Moss website to offer a full range of suiting and casualwear online from next month. -
Myla on the hunt for chief executive to drive growth
Lingerie brand Myla is searching for a chief executive to steer the business through the next phase of its expansion. -
Nathan Jenden
After making his name at Diane von Furstenberg, designer Nathan Jenden has more modest plans for his fledgling own label. -
News in brief
News in brief for the week ending October 6, 2007. -
Nike debuts NIKEiD Studio in New York
Nike unveiled its first NikeiD Studio at its Niketown store in New York yesterday, to support its plans to create a virtual design community. -
Non-food sales up at Tesco but clothing takes a hit
Non-food sales at Tesco rose 9.9% in the first half of the year, but the supermarket said clothing sales had suffered during the unseasonably cold summer. -
Peter Ruis
John Lewis is not renowned as a destination store for clothing, but fashion buying chief Peter Ruis is determined to put it on the map -
Playboy Adds New Ranges at London Store Opening
Playboy unveiled its first eveningwear and sportswear ranges at the opening of its debut European store in London's Oxford Street. -
Postal Strike to Wreak Havoc on Mail Order Sales
The postal strike will cause chaos for mail order companies according to Flying Brands boss Mark Dugdale and The Catalogue Exchange trade body, who are urging the unions to back down and call off the strike. -
Priceless and Kate Kuba pair up
Value footwear chain Priceless has joined forces with footwear mini chain Kate Kuba to boost its fashion credentials and raise its exit price point by 130%. -
Putting the house in order
House of Fraser’s tough new supply terms have sparked outrage from its suppliers and partners. But what potential long-term impact could the changes have on the industry? -
Richard Ratner stable after heart attack
Veteran retail analyst Richard Ratner is in a stable condition after suffering a heart attack at his office in the City yesterday afternoon. -
Shopper numbers for September hold firm
The Northern Rock crisis failed to hit the high street as hard as expected last month despite fears that widespread consumer panic would damage sales. -
Sir Philip Green unveils Bhs recovery
Bhs, the department store chain owned by Sir Philip Green, has reported a 17% increase in full year pre-tax profit to £49.4 million for the year to March. -
SRG completes refinancing
The management of Speciality Retail Group, which owns the Suits You chain, have completed a refinancing of the business. -
Stores wise up to value fatigue
Value and middle-market fashion retailers are trying to cash in on shoppers’ desire for quality by launching premium ranges. But will this strategy survive the current trading climate? -
Tailor-made for indies
Chatting with a forthright independent retailer at the very top end of the market this week, I was amused to hear her long for the return of the tailored jacket. -
Ted Baker posts healthy sales
Ted Baker's sales rose 8.3% to £66.2m for the first half of the year, boosted by strong performances from the stores and licensing operations. However wholesale sales continued to fall. -
The Weekend Paper Round-Up
Here is a round-up of fashion news headlines from the weekend’s papers. -
Timberland launches first UK e-commerce site
Timberland has launched its first transactional website in the UK, ahead of TV ad campaign scheduled for later this year. -
UK consumer confidence bounces back
Consumer confidence in the UK bounced back in September despite credit crunch fears, according to a survey by Nationwide. -
UK interest rates kept on hold at 5.75%
The British Retail Consortium has condemned the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee's decision to keep interest rates on hold at 5.75% for October. -
Under the skin
Python skin is everywhere at the moment, whether it is punctuating the high fashion sashaying down the Milanese catwalks or trimming a pair of Mary-Jane shoes at footwear fair Micam. -
Urban Stone duo acquire Jones licence
The founders of young fashion brand Urban Stone have launched a casualwear collection under iconic menswear label Jones for spring 08.
