retail
Arcadia Group, which owns brands such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins has fallen into administration as the COVID-19 pandemic hit an already troubled business. The group employs 13,000 staff, none of which have been made redundant yet. The group is hoping to find a buyer for some or all of the brands within the group. The Arcadia Group operate about 440 stores in the UK, with many concessions sitting within other businesses such as Debenhams and Co-op.
In another blow to the high street, struggling department store Debenhams has finally gone into liquidation after JD Sports withdrew from conversations about purchasing the business. The move to withdraw was partially a result of the Arcadia administration which was also announced yesterday. Debenhams currently operates from 127 stores and employs 12,000 staff whose jobs are now at risk. It is understood that the stores will be wound down early next year.
Big four supermarket Sainsbury’s is the latest retailer to announce that they will extend opening hours in the run-up to Christmas. Sainsbury's will join Primark, M&S, Tesco and Wilko in a bid to ensure shoppers can visit their stores safely in the busiest period of the year. The news comes after Communities Secretary Robert Jerrick announced plans to allow local councils to waive opening hour restrictions for retailers over the coming weeks.
More bad news for the high street as Bonmarché fell into administration today, following other Edinburgh Woollen Mill brands Jaeger and Peacocks. No redundancies of the 1,600 staff or store closures have been announced as yet as the brand hopes to find a buyer.
Central England Co-op has launched a trial of a new service in a store in Halesowen in the West Midlands which allows customers to scan products as they shop and pay digitally as they leave the store, reducing time spent queuing and reducing touchpoints for customers in-store. Store Manager Jessica Head said in a statement “Recent times have really showed us all the benefits of being able to shop local with a trusted, community-focused retailer and this trial is another great extension of that way of thinking and how we, as a society, are always trying to come up with more ways to improve the shopping experience for our customers and members,”
Leisure
Pizza Hut will hire 2,500 staff as it eyes expansion facilitated by the boom in delivery brought about by the pandemic. Neil Manhas, General Manager of Pizza Hut UK said “We were already on this strong growth trajectory but clearly the pandemic has accelerated the jump in demand.”
Caffe Nero has started the CVA process after it rejected a bid from petrol forecourt owners EG Group to buy the business. The proposal has received support from an ‘overwhelming majority’ of landlords, with the aim being to switch to turnover-based rental models.
Openings and closures
Majestic opens 200th store to meet Christmas rush in Henley; The Range to open at The Springs, Leeds; Shiva Hotels has defied the current retail climate to open two hotels; The team behind Dalston-based Japanese-Italian restaurant Angelina are to launch a ‘playful’ cocktail and wine bar in Soho that will serve a concise menu of small dishes; Tomahawk restaurant group will open its debut restaurant in the capital at the start of next month in the site that was formerly home to Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen.
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