Sales for the first half of the fiscal year at
Next were better than expected. Catalogue and
web sales were up 1.7 per cent from the previous year, to
£386.2 million. Retail like-for-like sales fell 1.2 per cent,
but overall turnover was up 1 per cent, to £1.42 billion for
the six months to July. The company credits “a slight
improvement in the consumer environment” and a more
fashion-forward range for much of the sales increase. Pretax
profit rose 6.9 per cent, to £185.5 million. Having recently
launched a US website, Next is working on the launch of a German
site.
Majestic Wine is debuting a quarterly customer
magazine, Grape to Glass, this month. The magazine
will include product listings and information as well as
feature articles.
Is Debenhams looking to acquire
Aurora Fashions, the parent company of retailers
Coast, Karen Millen, Warehouse, and
Oasis? It is according to Bloomberg.
Shipton & Heneage, the upscale footwear brand,
is the subject of a profile in The Telegraph. Cofounder James Cookson says
that US catalogue sales are one of the company’s
“brightest spots” and that building a brand is
“a bit like bringing up a child. You can’t send it out to
work when it’s not ready”.
Software behemoth Adobe Systems has agreed
to buy web analytics firm Omniture for $1.8
billion (£1.1 billion). Watching websites
Share