Drapers
19 December 2008
View all stories from this issue.
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2009: year of challenge and opportunity
The nail-biting final run into Christmas has prompted an unprecedented level of discounting on the high street and panic among suppliers as to whether their customers would come out the other side of what could be the worst Christmas ever for the fashion retail sector. -
Amanda Wakeley steps down following sale of label
Amanda Wakeley has stepped down from her eponymous label after it was sold to investor Jason Granite. -
Anglomania, Manchester
Franchisee Hervia has opened the first UK store for Vivienne Westwood’s younger and cheaper sub-brand. -
Atlantic unable to access staff records
Staff at Atlantic Fashions, the chain that collapsed in November, have not yet received redundancy letters or P45s because parent company Acton Farm cannot access staff records. -
Bodas
The pure and simple lingerie brand is expanding its collection with babywear and a maternity range. -
Brand director joins Firetrap
Young fashion brand Firetrap has appointed former Nike integrated seasonal product planning director Sjors Bos as brand director. -
BRC gives retailers documents to help switch to monthly rents
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is providing retailers with a draft letter and deed to ask landlords to switch from paying rents quarterly to monthly. -
CBI records ninth consecutive month of sales falls
Retailers have recorded nine consecutive months of falling sales as the pre-Christmas build up failed to give the sector much needed respite from the downturn. -
David Jones
Luxury fashion consultant David Jones tells Ana Santi his vision for the future and how the industry has changed over the past 30 years. -
Debenhams to launch 5-day 50% off Sale tomorrow
Debenhams will launch a 5-day Sale with up to 50% off tomorrow, in the final run up to Christmas. -
Debenhams to open in Iran
Debenhams is to open a store in Tehran in Iran. -
Discounting helps West End fight back against Westfield London
London retail sales fell back 0.4% on a like for like basis in November, the third consecutive monthly fall, but footfall was slightly ahead of November 2007. -
Don McCarthy steps down from Moss Bros board
Moss Bros non-executive director Don McCarthy has stepped down from his role at the menswear business. -
Drapersonline to deliver Xmas news
Drapersonline.com will deliver daily news updates over the crucial Christmas and Boxing Day Sale period. -
Exhibition prices are cut at new-look LFW
Exhibitors at London Fashion Week will benefit from a reduction in price for exhibition space, as the event unveils a new look for its next edition in February. -
Explosives found in Paris department store
Five packages of explosives have been found and disarmed in Printemps Haussman department store in Paris, according to reports. -
Garry Hogarth
Agent Provocateur’s chief executive is raising sales by convincing women that they need not be intimidated by the lingerie retailer’s sassy and sexy attitude. -
H&M like-for-likes fall for fourth month
H&M saw like-for-like sales fall 4% in November, which meant comparable sales for the last 12 months were behind 1%. -
Harold Tillman to speak at FBC
Fashion and retail veteran Harold Tillman will be interviewed on-stage by Drapers editor Lauretta Roberts at the first Fashion Business Club (FBC) meeting of 2009. -
House of Fraser wins monthly rent battle
House of Fraser has struck a deal with landlords to pay rent on a monthly rather than quarterly basis. -
Igedo appoints chief executive
Igedo Company, the organiser of Dusseldorf trade fair CPD, has appointed Philipp Kronen as president and chief executive of the business. -
Insolvency rules set to change
New insolvency regulations to come into force next year are aiming to tackle controversial 'pre-pack' sales of businesses in administration. -
John Lewis boosted by Mega Monday
Sales at John Lewis rose 6% week-on-week for the week ended December 13 but fell 4% on last year. -
John Lewis makes senior appointments
John Lewis Partnership has appointed Patrick Lewis to the board as he becomes Partners’ Counsellor, and Gareth Thomas has been appointed retail director. -
Keep staff happy to avoid the gloom
Retailers caught in the grip of the downturn face a difficult challenge in preventing the deterioration of staff morale. -
Kidswear helps fashion sales at John Lewis
John Lewis sales were down 6% for the week to December 13 compared to the same week last year. The business said that after allowing for the VAT reduction, the fall was 4%. -
Laura Ashley like-for-like sales down 10%
Total stores sales at Laura Ashley rose 9.7% for the 20 weeks to December 13 due to store openings, but were down almost 10% on a like-for-like basis. -
London debut for Pipa store
A new designer fashion boutique, called Pipa, has opened its doors in Little Venice, west London. -
M&S profit forecast cut on sales slump fears
Marks & Spencer's profit-before-tax forecast has been cut by 7% by retail analyst Pali International after speculation that sales had slumped by as much as 25% last week. -
Men's Footwear Indicator December 20, 2008
Access Drapers’ unique source of sales information from footwear retailers, revealing the best-selling brands, the hottest products and the latest issues to affect men’s footwear by clicking on the PDF below. -
Mulberry’s sales bounce back
Luxury fashion business Mulberry has seen an uplift in sales in the run-up to Christmas, after posting a profit warning last week. -
No redundancy letter for Atlantic staff
Staff at Atlantic Fashions have contacted Drapers to say they still have not received redundancy letters or their P45's after they were promised they had been sent out last week. -
Non-food retail sales drop 0.3%
Sales at non-food stores decreased by 0.3% in the three months from September to November, compared to the previous three months, according to the Office for National Statistics. -
Off the record, December 20, 2008
Draper’s inside track on the parties and gossip from a week in the fashion business. -
OFT to probe JJB Sports' sale of stores to Sports Direct
The Office of Fair trading (OFT) is inviting representations relating to Sports Direct's acquisition of a number of stores from rival JJB Sports. -
Onitsuka Tiger opens Liverpool store
Onitsuka Tiger, the Japanese young fashion brand, has opened a new store in the Liverpool One shopping development. -
Online sales surge 16% in November
Online sales in November surged by 16% on last year, as shoppers favoured the internet over the high street. -
Original Factory Shop appoints Angela Spindler as chief executive
The Original Factory Shop has appointed former Debenhams managing director Angela Spindler as chief executive, replacing George Foster who will retire. -
Partners in Fashion plots Frank Walder’s UK growth
Womenswear agent Partners in Fashion is to represent German mainstream brand Frank Walder in the UK. The agency plans to aggressively increase distribution over the next two years. -
Pentland takes slice of Gio-Goi
Brand house Pentland Brands has bought a 20% stake in streetwear label Gio-Goi in a deal that has provided a much-needed confidence boost to the sector. -
People Tree
Fair-trade label People Tree has extended its menswear collection for spring 09 in a bid to refocus on its male customers. -
Retailers must adapt to survive, says Mandelson
Retailers cannot rely on government bail outs and must expect an increasingly competitive market, business minister Peter Mandelson has warned. -
Road ahead is full of twists and turns
Are you pleased to see the back of 2008, or are you facing 2009 with a sense of dread? -
Shhhhhhh!
When two employees were caught in a compromising position at HQ, which retailer’s light-hearted boss said: “At least someone is having a good time.” -
Sports Direct boosted by international sales
Sports Direct sales rose 2.9% to £687.7m for the 26 weeks to October 26, boosted by international sales. UK retail sales dropped 1.6% to £510.1m. -
Sports Direct to cut back on stakebuilding
Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley has said that the sportswear group will 'do less strategic stakes' in other companies. -
Stocks plummet in year of turmoil
In a tumultuous year for the UK economy, fashion stocks took the brunt of a major downturn in consumer confidence, while City confidence in the sector’s stocks also hit rock bottom. -
Suits You owner injects cash into Pal Zileri label
Luxury menswear label Pal Zileri is to open flagship stores in Europe and the US, after Arafa Holding, owner of menswear chain Suits You, pumped €25.3 million (£22.6m) into the Italian business. -
TJ Hughes owner warns of tough 2009
Distressed purchases, refinancing and equity injections will characterise private equity activity in the retail sector next year according to Silverfleet Capital, the fund behind discount chain TJ Hughes. -
Vivienne Westwood signs Pamela Anderson to front campaign
Actress and model Pamela Anderson is to front Vivienne Westwood's spring 09 advertising campaign. -
Weekend footfall down 9.1%
Shopper numbers fell by 9.1% over the weekend (December 13-14) against the same weekend last year according to Experian Business Strategies. -
West End shoppers spent £50 million last weekend
Shoppers spent around £50 million in London's West End last weekend, as high street retailers ramped up pre-Christmas discounting. -
Westfield mall hosts Choice’s fifth store
Designer independent Choice has opened a new £1.5 million store at the Westfield London shopping mall in White City. -
What the weekend newspapers said: December 13-14
The best of the fashion business related headlines from the weekend's newspapers... -
Woolworths stores to close by January 5
Woolworths will close all 807 stores by January 5, according to administrator Deloitte. -
Xmas Sale watch: Discounting hits record levels
Burton, Hugo Boss, Oasis and Oliver Sweeney have joined the raft of high street retailers on pre-Christmas Sale today, as Ernst & Young said that the level of pre-Christmas discounting had reached record levels. -
Xmas Sale watch: Gap joins high street discounters
Gap has kicked off a 'Sale preview' today, offering shoppers discounts of up to 50%. -
Xmas Sales watch: Nearly half of retailers discounting
Almost half of high street retailers are now on Sale or discounting in the run up to Christmas.
