News roundup—2nd February 2009


News roundup—2nd February 2009

Woolworths will live on in the UK, as an online-only
retailer: Littlewoods parent company Shop Direct
Group has acquired the brand, along with Woolworths’
Ladybird children’s apparel brand, reports the BBC.

The Financial Times, meanwhile, looks at
how home goods distributor JML, which had been a major
supplier to Woolies, has been compensating for the loss of that
particular outlet. One way has been by expanding its eCommerce
and catalogue activities, which “finally made a profit in
2008”.

The founder of Sofa Workshop has bought the
cataloguer/retailer’s book and 10 of its 30 stores out of
administration, Financial Times reports.

Tesco may launch a website to sell its own-brand apparel
by autumn, reports
The Times

… while Amazon is said to be gearing up to add
groceries to the products it sells on its UK site, according to
Supermarket News.

“Healthspan chief executive Derek Coates has hit
back at comments made in the House of Commons about the effect a
VAT concession which favours mail order companies in the Channel
Islands is having on independent businesses,” reports
The Guernsey Press.

Jeweller Aurum, whose retail brands include
Goldsmiths, Mappin & Webb, and Mydiamonds.com,
reportedly has hired Ernst & Young to carry out a review of the
business, which could result in a sale of the group, according to
Retail Jeweller.

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