Following a successful trial apparel and homewares retailer
Next is branching out into garden centres.
According to the Independent, Next has been planning
applications for five new home and garden centres after its
first, in Shoreham, West Sussex, proved a hit. The article goes
on to say that since opening a year ago, Next’s home and garden
centre store in West Sussex has delivered higher sales on a
Sunday than any of Next’s other 500-plus stores in the UK and
Ireland.
Red Letter Days, the experience days marketer
launched by Rachel Elnaugh and bought out of administration in
2005 by her fellow Dragons’ Den judges Peter Jones and Theo
Paphitis, has recorded its second year in profit. The Daily Mail writes that Red Letter Days made a
profit of £404,700 in the year ending December 2011,
compared with £372,300 the previous year on a turnover of
£13 million.
Private equity firm Better Capital has spoken to
JJB’s main lender, Lloyds Banking Group, about
buying the retailer’s outstanding debt writes the
Telegraph. Earlier this month, American-based Dick’s
Sporting Goods was associated with a potential deal.
An analyst at Panmure Gordon has warned that online grocer
Ocado is in danger of breaching its banking
covenants, reports the
Guardian. According to the analyst it is the “beginning of
the endgame” for the retailer, which has a “pile of debt and
falling market share”. In response, Ocado told the newspaper its
“existing facilities provide sufficient funding”.
Consumers in Scotland are demanding better parcel delivery
options. A survey by Consumer Focus Scotland found that many
Scots felt “penalised by high charges and poor service when
it comes to parcel delivery”. The findings highlighted a
need for more varied collection points, nominated delivery times
and the use of smartphone technology to track parcels reports
the BBC.
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