Drapers
8 March 2008
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A week in fashion: The hunt for Easter sales
The early Easter is giving retailers a terrible headache around their discount and promotional strategies. -
All change as George axes sub-brands
George at Asda will drop its Fast Fashion and Must Have sub-brands as part of a major overhaul of its clothing offer. -
Asda says disposable income has fallen
The average UK household had 3.2% less disposable income in January this year compared with in January 2007, according to Asda. -
Asda to close George standalones
Asda is to close its George standalones to focus on its out-of-town Living format. -
Asda to cut back plastic bags
Asda will remove all single-use plastic carrier bags from its checkouts in a bid to cut customer usage by 20%. -
Austin Reed signs franchisee for Middle East stores
Austin Reed will open at least 10 stores in the Middle East in the next five years, after signing a franchise agreement with Kuwait-based Speciality Fashion Group. -
Belfast's Victoria Square scheme opens
Victoria Square, the £400 million shopping centre development in Belfast, attracted 70,000 visitors on opening day yesterday. -
Blacks to roll out new store concept
Outdoorwear retailer Blacks Leisure is planning to roll out a more fashion-driven format for its Blacks chain as part of plans to boost sales growth. -
BMB picks up Crowther labels
Menswear supplier and brand house BMB Group has added a raft of new brands to its portfolio, after buying menswear supplier John Langford. -
Boudiche, Edinburgh
Drapers’ Lingerie Retailer of the Year 2007 is still turning heads north of the border. -
Boxfresh ends Debenhams deal in bid to move upmarket
Young fashion brand Boxfresh has pulled out of Debenhams as it aims to reposition itself more upmarket. -
Chalayan and Puma team up
Sports brand Puma has signed designer Hussein Chalayan as its new creative director to oversee the brand’s Sport Fashion collections, including footwear, clothing and accessories. -
Cost cuts boost Gap
Profits at Gap rose 21% for the fourth quarter, after a drop in sales was offset by cost cuts. -
Cuba Clothing rejigs its Dungannon store
Northern Ireland independent Cuba Clothing is relaunching its Dungannon shop with an in-store coffee house and new categories to stay one step ahead of its high street rivals. -
Debenhams to test charging for carrier bags
Debenhams is to trial charging its customers 5p for each carrier bag - the first fashion retailer to levy a charge on shopping bags. -
Easter dates fuel trade woe
High street retailers are battling with the conundrum of an early Easter combined with tough trading conditions, which has thrown their discounting policies into disarray. -
Ethical 'stamp of approval' labels to launch this week
Ethical Consumer magazine will launch a Best Buy labelling system to help consumers identify genuinely ethical products and services. -
Faith loses retail operations boss
Faith retail operations director Paul O’Neill, the only remaining member of the original management buyout team, has resigned after 16 years at the company. -
Fashion sales boost John Lewis performance
Fashion sales at department store group John Lewis rose 4.6% in 2007, with strong performances from both branded and own-label products. -
Footwear Indicators
Access Drapers’ unique source of sales information from independent retailers, revealing the best-selling brands, the hottest products and the latest issues to affect footwear by clicking on the PDFs below. -
Gap like-for-likes fall 6% in February
Sales at Gap were flat during February at $907 million (£451.6m) but like-for-likes collapsed 6%. -
Greenwoods' owner mulls Moss Bros bid
The owner of menswear chain Greenwoods is planning a counter bid for the Moss Bros business, according to reports. -
H&M acquires Cheap Monday
H&M has bought a 60% stake in Swedish fashion company Fabric Scandinavien which owns the Weekday and Monki chains as well as the Cheap Monday denim brand. -
Hayden Taylor eyes growth after debut in Gloucester
Hayden Taylor, a new designer menswear independent, opened in Gloucester this week and plans to expand within the next five years. -
High street inspired by eclectic catwalks
Young fashion multiples will draw on the Victoriana, punk and folk trends shown on the international catwalks in their autumn 08 ranges as they try to tempt cautious shoppers to spend on clothing. -
Interest rates held at 5.25%
The British Retail Consortium has slammed The Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates at 5.25%. -
It’s our job to keep customers smiling
There’s plenty of doomsaying in the media right now, with headlines screaming about sub-prime lending, falling property prices, poor retail sales and spiralling debt. -
J Simons in hunt for investors
J Simons, the classic men’s Americana retailer in London’s Covent Garden, is seeking investment in a bid to stave off closure. -
Jacqueline Gold to star in Sport Relief's The Apprentice show
Ann Summers chief executive Jacqueline Gold will push her retail skills and business brain to the limit as she joins a raft of celebrity contestants taking part in a version of BBC 2's The Apprentice to raise money for Sport Relief. -
Jocasi reaps global reward
Accessories brand Jocasi expects to double its turnover this year on the back of international expansion. -
John Lewis storms 2007
John Lewis saw operating profits (excluding property profits) climb 12% to £189.9 million for the year ended January 26, which helped generate a 20% salary bonus for John Lewis partners. -
Joules website relaunches
Lifestyle retailer and brand Joules has relaunched its website with a new look and improved navigation. -
Kim Jones
Designer Kim Jones has developed a reputation as king of modernist casualwear. But as the newly appointed creative director at Alfred Dunhill, he insists there’s a lot more to him than meets the eye. -
Laura Ashley raises stake in Moss Bros
Laura Ashley has increased its stake in beleaguered menswear retailer Moss Bros to 5.6%. -
Lingerie etailer Dolce V to launch this week
Luxury lingerie etailer Dolce V will make its debut this week. -
Littlewoods Shop Direct reveals losses for the year
Littlewoods Shop Direct posted a pre-tax loss of £24.2 million for the year to April 30 2007, compared to a profit of £12.4 million the previous year. -
M&S launches 50% off Sale
Marks & Spencer is the latest retailer to launch a spring clearance Sale and is offering up to 50% off its fashion collections. -
M&S targets overseas growth in Greek tie-up
Marks & Spencer will open 50 more international stores after forming a joint venture with its franchise partner in Greece. -
Markdowns hit Sears’ profits
Profits at US retail group Sears were hammered by aggressive discounting in the fourth quarter. -
Minimum wage rises to £5.73
The National Minimum Wage will rise from £5.52 to £5.73 for over 21 year olds from October 2008. -
Movie stars fail to sparkle this year
The awards season seems to have left us all a little deflated. The Oscars in particular is the big fashion show of the year, and with the writers’ strike cancelled two weeks before the event, I thought Hollywood’s starlets would have had enough time to get glitzed. But on the whole, I was wrong. -
Mulberry heads to McArthurGlen
Luxury brand Mulberry has opened its first outlet store in McArthurGlen at the Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet. -
New Look pushes button on full internet roll-out
New Look is to ramp up its online offer and kick-start a marketing campaign to drive traffic online after web transactions busted targets. -
News in brief
News in brief for the week ending February 9, 2008. -
Non-stop Sales are low on excitement
This week I attended a customer card-holder evening at a well-known department store in London with a fellow shopaholic. The store in question was offering a 15% discount on all purchases (with a few minor exceptions). -
Oli calls time on catalogue
Otto UK is to scrap its Oli catalogue but remains committed to the brand as an etail venture. -
Patrick Cox in rescue attempt
Patrick Cox is reported to be in talks to rescue the business after the Chinese backers of the company withdrew their support last week. -
Pod hoists the For Sale sign as footwear turmoil kicks in
Pod, the iconic footwear brand, has been put up for sale after the business was hit by the demise of Dolcis and Stead & Simpson. -
Purple plumps up autumn menswear
Purple will make the leap from trade show to menswear shop floors for autumn 08, according to early sales reports. -
Rützou goes back to basics
Danish womenswear brand Rützou has launched its first capsule footwear range for autumn 08 in collaboration with footwear brand Mentor. -
Rachel Perrett
The founder of womenswear website Frockonline.com tells Laura Jackson how a unique offer and personalised service have helped the site to thrive. -
Spring discounting kicks off
House of Fraser kicked off spring discounting on the high street this weekend and rival Debenhams will hold its first spring promotional event this week. -
SSG launches ethical footwear brand Toms
Shoe Studio Group has secured an exclusive one season licensing deal with US ethical footwear label Toms. -
Tateossian
Having lit the fuse on the cufflinks market, Tateossian’s trend-led jewellery now targets fashion-conscious women. -
The Weekend Newspaper Round-up
The best fashion-related news stories from the weekend's newspapers... -
Trade slow at Micam
Italian footwear show Micam got of to a slow start this week according to exhibitors. -
Umbro gets new boss after Nike takeover
Nike has appointed Matthew Cook, the former general manager of Nike Italy, as chief executive and president of Umbro following its takeover of the brand yesterday. -
Warming to global expansion
After turbulent times in the UK market, many high street retailers are looking overseas for growth opportunities. But international success is by no means guaranteed. -
White boxes blacken fashion’s good name
The end of the white box store design model is nigh. Or at least that’s what customers are hoping for. -
Zara opens new concept store
Zara unveiled an opulent new store concept this morning at its Oxford Circus shop in central London.
