The High Street hangover

fc123

CRASH_BANG_WALLOP wrote: »

Heavy discounts fail to entice shoppers into splashing out as spending falls in both shops and on the web




No-one is spending. The hight street has taken a battering. Barrats/Priceless, Evans, D2 all gone in the past few weeks. No doubt more will follow.
Dark days ahead indeed.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084151/The-High-Street-hangover-Heavy-discounts-fail-entice-shoppers-splashing-spending-falls-shops-web.html

D2 sites will just be replaced with another retailer.

Blue Inc buys 20 D2 stores

6 January 2012 | By Ruth Faulkner
Young fashion menswear retailer Blue Inc has bought 20 D2 stores out of administration saving in the region of 200 jobs on the high street.



The young fashion business, which is backed by former M&S boss Sir Stuart Rose, reached a deal with BDO the administrator of the D2 chain last night.
D2, the business originally owned by Sir Tom Hunter, fell into administration on December 29 for the second time in two years, closing 19 stores.The retailer, which sold a mixture of branded and own brand denim and young fashion, had 76 stores in the UK and three shops in the Republic of Ireland.

Blue Inc, which received investment from Stuart Rose last year, will rebadge all stores to its own fascia.

Managing director of the retailer Steven Cohen said: “The move gives us a strong presence in Scotland, where we’ve never been before. After another very positive year we are pleased to be continuing to grow market share in the young men’s fashion market. This acquisition provides a great strategic opportunity.”


The acquisition is the second major buy for Blue Inc in the past 12 months. The retailer bought 46 Officers Club out of administration in March, which it continues to trade under its original fascia. It is thought to be considering a floatation later this year

fc123

Latest on Blacks from trade press.
LINK

6 January 2012 | By Ruth Faulkner


BLACKS, the outdoor leisure retailer, is to be put into administration ahead of the sale of its assets. The embattled retailer has received final offers from parties interested in acquiring its operations, understood to include rivals Sports Direct, JD Sports and Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Peter Jones.

A sale of the business assets, however, is likely to mean the bulk of stores continue trading and most of the 3,500 jobs at Blacks will be preserved. A deal is likely to be struck within the next few days.

fc123

...and finally, for balance This a big volume retailer.

Shop Direct reveals Christmas sales leap

9 January 2012 | By Gemma Goldfingle
Home shopping group Shop Direct’s sales jumped 9% over Christmas but it expects sales to deteriorate in 2012.



Group chief executive Mark Newton-Jones said the sales rise for the six weeks to December 31 was not representative of trading as a whole last year. For its half year to December 31, sales edged up 2%.

Newton-Jones said: “With the festive season now behind us, we believe the retail outlook for 2012 will remain subdued. Indeed, we expect it to deteriorate further as consumers continue to tighten their belts. We are forecasting lower overall sales.”

Shop Direct, which operates brands including Littlewoods and Very, said online sales jumped 20% over the Christmas period, accounting for 74% of all revenue and mobile commerce accounted for 11% of online sales.

Newton-Jones said: “This Christmas was all about online sales. Customers chose to shop at a time and place to suit them and increasingly used tablets and smartphones to browse and complete their orders.”

The home shopping giant said its Christmas trading was supported by strong margin growth and it took less stock into Sale than last year

vivatifosi

Clinton's has just announced that it expects its largest supplier to place the company and its subsidiary into administration later today.