Drapers
9 June 2007
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Baugur earmarks £600m for expansion
Icelandic investment group Baugur has put aside about £600m to buy companies or grow existing ones, according to press reports. Chief executive Jon Asgeir Johanneson will use some of the cash to expand Karen Millen from seven US stores to as many as 120. -
Bhs and Tammy eye international growth
Bhs owner Sir Philip Green is thought to be planning to grow the company's girlswear brand Tammy internationally, according to reports. He also aims to open more Bhs stores outside the UK. Green is understood to have held talks with potential partners for Tammy standalone shops. Tammy has not operated standalone stores in the UK since 2002. -
Bhs director takes charge of New Look's menswear
Bhs menswear director Steve Lawton is leaving the department store giant to take up a job at acquisition target New Look. -
Board role for John Lewis marketing boss
John Lewis has appointed interim marketing director Gill Barr to the same position on the management board. Barr, who is developing a marketing strategy for the retailer, said: 'There is a huge opportunity to grow our relationship with customers.' She was previously chief executive of gourmet meal delivery service Deliverance. -
Clarks appoints New Balance manager
Alistair Cameron, New Balance general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa, is to join footwear giant Clarks as director of the women’s division. The new role was created after a reorganisation in October last year when Clarks merged its UK and international arms. -
Drapers Share Monitor - Leahy plans Tesco's move into India
Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy is understood to be in line to pocket millions of pounds in share bonuses if the chain meets its US expansion targets. -
Gap to axe London kidswear jobs
Gap is to cut up to 90 jobs in its London-based European division, mostly from its kidswear department, following a US head office cost-cutting directive. -
Gisele and Jamie team up for Aquascutum ads
Aquascutum has signed supermodel Gisele Bundchen and actor Jamie Dornan to front its autumn 07 global ad campaign. The pair play a 'power couple' in the ads, which will run in glossy fashion magazines worldwide from August. The campaign features all of the brand's men's and women's collections, including Aquascutum London, Aquascutum Collection and Aquascutum Ltd. It also includes one of five coats from Aquascutum Vintage, a new capsule collection inspired by original Aquascutum coats worn by -
Harrods backs Tanner Krolle's case
British luxury accessories brand Tanner Krolle is to launch a luggage range in Harrods in September as part of a revamp of the department store's luggage floor. The autumn 07 range will be the first under creative boss Manuela Morin, who joined last year. -
Hobbs on the hunt for larger stores to show off its expanded collection
Womenswear chain Hobbs is beefing up its average store size to cope with a larger product offer after its sales soared 24% to £94.7 million. -
JJB Sports faces £20m sales slump
JJB Sports chief executive Tom Knight believes the company will lose about £20 million in sales from replica football kit this year, due to the absence of the football World Cup. -
Joint winners for GFW's 2007 Gold Award
Judges at this year's Graduate Fashion Week decided that the River Island Gold Award was too close to call and chose joint winners. Jasper Sincha Chadprajong of Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication and Nicholas Thomas from the University of West England in Bristol will both share the £20,000 prize. -
Kinross to get own shops
The Cashmere Store of Scotland is rebranding two of its three stores in Edinburgh to Kinross Cashmere. The locations, in the Royal Mile and George Street, will reopen on June 9 and 29 respectively under a long-term agreement with the brand. Kinross Cashmere is owned by yarns and home textiles business Dawson International, which announced a pre-exceptional operating loss of £1.5 million for the year to December 30 2006. -
Ladybird flourishes in spring's warm weather
Early warm weather drove sales of Woolworths' kidswear brand Ladybird in the 17 weeks to June 2, the retailer revealed in an interim trading statement. Chief executive Trevor Bish-Jones added that Ladybird's first UK standalone would open by the end of the year. -
Lee Cooper appoints south-east manager
Denim brand Lee Cooper has signed Andy Taylor as regional account manager for the south-east. Taylor, formerly of shirt brand Life & Limb, will report to head of UK sales David Westhead. -
Littlewoods adds to its plus-size offer
Home shopping group Littlewoods is extending its Nicholas Millington occasionwear range with 15 pieces for larger women, including sizes 16 to 26. The collection will be designed around a size 20 block and is in addition to the existing Nicholas Millington offer, which goes from size 10 to 20. It will be available from July. Littlewoods is also planning a 50-piece plus-size fashion brand in sizes 16 to 32 that will launch in September. Littlewoods' core range caters for sizes 10 to 26. -
London store on cards for Helena Christensen
Danish supermodel Helena Christensen is reportedly planning to open a London boutique and is scouting locations in Notting Hill. Christensen, who stopped modelling full time seven years ago, designs her own range and already has two stores in New York. -
London's fashion businesses to benefit from £2m cash pot
A fund of £2 million has been earmarked to keep fashion businesses thriving in the capital, as part of a three-year investment in small businesses. -
Luella Bartley makes a splash with O'Neill
British designer Luella Bartley has created a 30-piece signature collection for boardsports brand O'Neill. Bartley, herself an amateur surfer, has created a spring 08 range comprising T-shirt dresses, sweatshirts and coloured jeans, as well as bikini and board shorts combinations. -
M&L Harris to represent Paule Ka for spring 08
French bridge brand Paule Ka has appointed M&L Harris as its UK agent. The label's spring 08 collection will feature about 60 pieces and will be sold from June 11-15, although wholesale prices have not yet been fixed. The brand has flagship stores in London's Bond Street and Sloane Square and 15 stockists in the UK. -
M&S poised for peak performance
A four-man team from Marks & Spencer has signed up to take part in this year's CARE International and Prima Solutions Adventure Challenge in Snowdonia. M&S sourcing director Glen Tinton, executive assistant Scott Fyfe and merchandising bosses Nick Jones and Richard Price will represent the retailer as they hike, cycle and canoe across Snowdonia National Park to raise money for CARE International. A team from young fashion brand Criminal has also signed up for the challenge, which is open to r -
Mackays makes its retail debut in Ireland
Value retailer Mackays has signed its first Irish store, at Newry Street in Banbridge. The retailer has 260 UK stores under the M&Co and Mackays fascias. DTZ McCombe was the property agent for Mackays. -
Menswear indies blame the weather for turbulent sales
Unpredictable weather has led to mixed trading at menswear independents in the past few weeks, as they gear up for Pitti Uomo in Florence this month. -
Menswear team rejig at Harvey Nichols
Richard Johnson has been appointed as head of men's formalwear buying at department store Harvey Nichols. He was previously buyer for international, designer, and accessories and replaces Fiona Firth, who left in November. Adrian Gibson is now casualwear and contemporary buyer for menswear. He was previously tailoring buyer and replaces Terry Betts, who has moved to take on Johnson's previous role. -
Moss Bros delivers a new take on suit hire
Suits retailer Moss Bros has launched a same-day delivery service for tuxedo hire, to be trialled in London's Zone 1. The Express hire package includes a classic satin lapel and trouser stripe dinner suit, a white pleated front dress shirt and handkerchief, pre-tied bow tie and cummerbund. Prices start at less than £50 plus delivery. The company blamed a 0.8% drop in sales for the first quarter on poor performance at its hire business. -
People Tree's clothing branches out
People Tree is to make its clothing more fashion-focused and will open its first standalone UK stores after signing ex-Topshop supremo Jane Shepherdson as product adviser. -
Permira set to bid for Hugo Boss
London-based private equity firm Permira is to make a full bid for Hugo Boss parent company Valentino, having secured majority control of the Italian business. Permira agreed to buy 10.8% of Valentino to add to its existing 29.6% stake, meaning it was obliged under Italian law to bid for the whole company. -
Pinko chases UK sales with wholesale push
Italian womenswear brand Pinko will open its second UK store this autumn as it ramps up its wholesale distribution. -
Poor service costs shops £4.2bn
UK fashion retailers could be losing out on sales worth £4.2 billion because of poor customer service, research has found. -
Profits continue to soar at Net-a-Porter
Pre-tax profits at online retailer Net-a-Porter have risen by 62% to £2.1 million for the year to January 2007. Turnover, which has nearly doubled year on year since Net-a-Porter launched in 2000, grew by 75% on the previous year, from £21.3m to £37.2 m. The etailer stocks designer brands such as Marc Jacobs, Juicy Couture and Vera Wang. -
Put your shirt on sure-fire winners
Sales of shirts and knitwear are strong, says Martin Jones, but demand for silk ties has choked -
Rain and interest rate hikes hit sales in May
UK like-for-like retail sales grew 1.8% in May, compared with a rise of 3.6% in May 2006. May's clothing and footwear sales were hit by wet weather this year following a warmer-than-usual April. 'Although the weather was bound to depress sales growth, many of our members believe that the effects of the recent rate increases are now beginning to show in these figures,' said BRC director-general Kevin Hawkins. -
Religion signs Zakee Shariff for autumn 07
Young fashion brand Religion is to collaborate with designer Zakee Shariff on a collection for the coming next season. -
Rival could snap up Blacks for £3 a share
City analysts say Blacks Leisure Group could be sold for as little as £3 a share, if investors at the struggling group want a quick exit. -
Roswald dives in with Evans
Designer Ann Louise Roswald has created a 10-piece beach range for Arcadia plus-size chain Evans. The collection will go into Evans' top 50 stores on June 18, with prices starting at £7 for a headscarf to £35 for a straw beach bag. The swimwear range features two-piece bikinis and one-piece halterneck swimsuits in bold prints. It is offered in sizes 16 to 24 in cup sizes C/D and DD/E. -
Shopping with personality
Retailers are losing out on billions of pounds worth of sales by failing to recognise customers by type. But can your staff tell the difference between a Product Groupie and a Pleasure Seeker? -
Shutopia to grow after Stylo legal triumph
Footwear group Stylo aims to open 50 out-of-town Shutopia stores over the next fours years, after winning a legal dispute with an independent retailer over the business name. -
SRG shakes up its management team as chief executive leaves
Gresham, the private equity owner of menswear group SRG, has ousted chief executive Adrian Wright and parachuted in a new management team to drive sales at the business. -
Take the direct route
As retailers work to drive down their supply chain costs, many are opting to streamline the process by importing product directly from overseas -
Tastes of the Season
Retro styles dominate as the high street reveals its essential trends for autumn 07 womenswear -
The Drapers Fashion fix poll
Every week we ask Drapersblog.com readers their opinion on the question of the week. -
Trial by television is a real turn-off
Is it wise for retailers to bare their commercial souls on television? Victoria suffield has doubts -
Turning over a new leaf
As Figleaves.com founder and chairman Daniel Nabarro steps down from the chief executive role, he reveals his ideal candidate for the job and his expansion plans for the online lingerie retailer -
Ulster Stores' £4m facelift kicks off with De Gruchy
Department store group Ulster Stores, which owns De Gruchy in Jersey and Moores of Coleraine in Northern Ireland, is revamping the clothing offer in its stores as part of a £4 million refurbishment. -
Value clothes don't always come cheap
'Cheap' as a marketing message is becoming an increasingly questionable tactic for a clothing retailer to rely on. Yes, a large number of consumers are driven by price and will queue round the block for the chance to, say, kit their kids out for a tenner (although given recent events on the British high street I am beginning to wonder if some consumers wouldn't just queue round the block for the chance to, um, queue round the block). -
Webbed feet
The personal approach has always been a key strength for independent footwear retailers, and now some are discovering that the same strategy can be just as rewarding online -
Womenswear indies searching for brands to plug Pola's gap
UK womenswear independ-ents are scouting for a replacement for Finnish middle-market brand Pola, following its closure.
