Retail & Distribution – Page 13
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ArticleContrasting consumer sentiment across Europe
The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is beginning to stifle the previously expected recovery of the European economy, particularly for the consumption of non-essential products and services. Fortunately, it has not yet led to the retail lockdowns of the first wave in the spring – except in Wales and ...
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ArticleU.K. government under pressure over move to scrap tax-free shopping
The British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure from major retailers to reverse his decision to abolish duty-free shopping next year which they claim will lead to significant job losses. Leading U.K. fashion and luxury brands, including Paul Smith, Ted Baker, The White Company and Superdry, have warned ...
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ArticleFootwear stores hit hard in Moscow, St. Petersburg
In September, independent footwear stores in Russia experienced, on average, a 17 percent slump in sales, compared with the same period of the previous year, on the back of a second wave of Covid-19 in the country, Moscow-based think tank Evotor estimated. It is believed that chains are performing slightly ...
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ArticleKurt Geiger plans 500 job cuts over U.K. plan to drop tax-free shopping
Kurt Geiger, a luxury footwear and accessories retailer, plans 500 job cuts, affecting over a quarter of its workforce, early next year after the British government announced that it would abolish tax-free shopping on Dec. 31. The standard value-added tax (VAT) is 20 percent in the U.K. In a letter ...
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ArticleU.K. threatens no-deal Brexit but talks to continue
Tensions on stalled Brexit trade talks intensified as Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, said Britons should prepare for a no-deal departure if the European Union (EU) did not compromise, raising the prospect of supply chain chaos across Europe. Johnson stopped short of saying he was walking away from the ...
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ArticleStreetTrend buys Italian sneaker brand P448
StreetTrend has acquired the sneaker brand P448 from NoThanks, an Italian company based in Forli, and will enter it into its portfolio of footwear and fashion brands. StreetTrend is a fashion footwear and street wear brand company launched in 2017 by Wayne Kulkin, the former chief executive of Stuart Wetizman ...
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ArticleAlibaba in partnership with the duty free retailer Dufry in omnichannel drive
The Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba has entered into a partnership with the Swiss duty free retailer Dufry that will further integrate online and offline shopping. The parties will form a strategic joint venture in China, and Alibaba will become a minority shareholder in Dufry.
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ArticleCovid-19 is forcing fashion and retail to rethink their business models
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated changes in consumer attitudes towards fashion and retail, and calls are getting louder for “something to be done,” namely fewer collections, less fast fashion and more attention to sustainability.
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ArticleH&M expects 250 net store closures in 2021
Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) expects a net decrease of about 250 stores in 2021, as the Swedish retailer faces growing pressure to sell online. It highlighted that rapid changes in customer behavior have been further accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is stepping up the pace of its transformation ...
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ArticleBirkenstock ends cooperation with purchasing groups in Germany
Birkenstock is pulling out of the German shoe retailing cooperatives ANWR, GMS and Sabu on the grounds that they are allegedly not sufficiently committed to fighting product piracy. The withdrawal takes effect from December 31. Birkenstock has been a member of the trade associations for more than five years. From ...
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ArticleEram enters the second-hand market
Second-hand, or pre-owned, fashion is a growing trend in France, with brands such as Kiabi, Gémo and Jacadi all launching pre-owned clothing projects. Shoe and apparel retailer Eram has decided to join in, and has recently been testing several schemes offering second-hand fashion items in stores, both for shoes and ...
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ArticleKlarna grows in the pandemic
One clear sign of the boom in the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) model is the latest fundraising round of Klarna, which saw the Swedish online payments group set a new record for the valuation of a European private fintech company at $10.65 billion, nearly double the $5.5 billion valuation ...
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ArticleRussian fashion retailers end up with huge unsold stocks
On average, Russian fashion retailers failed to sell 30 percent of their summer collections due to the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in record levels of unsold stocks, according to the Moscow-based think tank Fashion Consulting Group. Some retailers were unable to sell half of their summer collections, which now remain on ...
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ArticleObuv Rossii’s August sales rebound sharply
Obuv Rossii has enjoyed a strong rebound in sales. In August, the company’s revenues increased by 1.5 times compared to July and exceeded 1 billion rubles (€13.3m -$11.2m), achieving the highest monthly level this year. Its top line exceeded by 16 percent the average monthly revenues seen in the first ...
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Klarna valued $10.65 billion in funding round
Klarna, the Swedish provider of online payment services, raised $650 million in an equity funding round, which values the whole company $10.65 billion. Klarna claims that the valuation ranks it as the highest-valued private fintech in Europe and the 4th worldwide. The funding round was led by Silver Lake, a ...
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Santoni sees 2020 sales down by 20-30%
Santoni expects 2020 sales to drop by 20-30 percent from the €83 million posted in 2019 due the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Italian brand of high-end shoes anticipates to resume growing in 2021 but the target of reaching an annual turnover of €100 million within a couple of ...
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Tretorn reinforces its management team in its move to accelerate DTC shift
Tretorn, the Swedish footwear and outerwear brand, continues to reinforce its management team as it seeks to overhaul its business model and develop direct-to-consumer channels. In the summer of 2019, the company, which was established in 1891, appointed Magnus Månsson as its new chief executive. Before joining Tretorn, Månsson served ...
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ArticleLGBTQ collections become mainstream for the fashion, sportswear industry
The LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and queer) fashion market has been growing over the last decade. In recent years, an unprecedented number of mainstream brands have begun to release LGBTQ collections.
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ArticleDesigner Brands sees challenging H2 as Q2 sales fall by 42.8%
The American shoe retailer Designer Brands, formerly known as DSW, expects the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to have a significant impact on its business in the second half of 2020, with a double-digit decline in sales likely and a return to profitability seen as “challenging.” As consumer preference shifts from ...
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ArticleOffice obtains rescue package ahead of store closures
The South African retailer Truworths will provide a £6.5 million (€7.3m-$8.6m) secured revolving credit facility to its British footwear unit Office as part of a rescue package. It noted that the funds will come from existing group cash reserves and will be distributed in a phased manner over the next ...
