Following yesterday’s announcement that embattled entertainment
retailer Game has appointed PwC as administrator
to the business; it has been revealed that almost half of the
firms stores are to be closed this week, triggering 2,104 job
losses. Administrators at PwC said 277 stores in the UK and
Ireland are to be shut but the remaining 333 stores, which employ
2,814 staff, will continue to trade while the search for a buyer
for the remainder of the business continues.
HMV, the entertainment retailer, is set to move
its fulfilment warehouse out of the Channel Islands following
last week’s appeal against the UK’s decision to scrap VAT relief
was turned down by the High Court. The retailer has announced
that it will not renew the lease on its internet fulfilment
centre in Guernsey when it ends in July and will move its
operations back to the UK. The move will put 46 jobs at risk.
Electrical retailer Comet has enjoyed its best
sales for two years. In a piece in the Sun, Comet chairman John Clare says the
firm is hoping to break even this year after seeing sales in
February beat their own forecasts.
Private equity firm Terra Firma has agreed a
£276 million deal to buy the Garden Centre
Group, the owner of the Wyevale and
Blooms brands. The Telegraph reports that the deal includes the
Garden Centre Group’s 129 centres across England and Wales, the
firm’s website and Britain’s largest gardening club, which has
over two million members. As part of the deal major shareholders
Lloyds Banking Group has lost a reported £100 million on
debt.
Reuters reports that department store and
online retailer Sears has announced that its
chief marketing officer Monica Woo has left the firm. This latest
exit follows on from the recent departures of John Goodman,
formerly executive vice president of the apparel and home unit,
and Dev Mukherjee, president of the home appliances business at
Sears.
The Telegraph profiles French
Connection’s new homewares collection.
Share