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European Retail Briefing - February 2018

ANALYST COMMENT
French online footwear specialist Spartoo to acquire footwear chain André
What we’ve seen
Who is Spartoo ?
An omni-channel marriage
Figure 1: France: where they shop for footwear, in-store or online, February 2017
What it means
EUROPEAN RETAIL SALES
Key points
Retail sales
Figure 2: Major European economies: year-on-year retail sales value growth, 2016-17
Figure 3: Major European economies: Year-on-year retail sales volume growth, 2016-17
Inflation
Figure 4: Major European economies: all items CPI, 2016-17
Figure 5: Major European economies: Food price inflation, 2016-17
LAUNCH ACTIVITY AND INNOVATION
France: Leroy Merlin to fit all stores with geolocation to help customers find products
Finland: Kesko opens Hehku health and wellness stores
Germany: Aldi Süd to build student flats on top of stores
Italy: Woolrich shoppers invited to test outdoor clothes in ice room
Spain: Zara introduces self-service kiosks
Sweden: IKEA invites customers to use ad to check for pregnancy
HEADLINES FOR THE MONTH
Food and drink
Clothing and footwear
Home and household goods
Online
Other retail
NEWS ANALYSIS – FOOD AND DRINK
Belgium: Smiley Foods launches inside Carrefour
Denmark: Coop Danmark expands food to-go range
France: Carrefour announces 2022 transformation plan
France: Carrefour sales slows in 2017
France: Casino Group
…adds mobile payment feature to app
…sales up 5% in 2017
Germany: Aldi Süd
…opens instore self-select bakery
…promotes reusable coffee cups
…to build student flats on top of stores
Germany: Bringmeister to deliver groceries to customer’s fridges
Germany: Lidl Germany CEO steps down
Germany: METRO Group delivers sales increase in Q1
Netherlands: Ahold Delhaize sales up 1.6% in Q4
Poland: Tesco to close 18 stores
Portugal: Continente launches voice-command shopping app
Russia: X5 Retail Group sales rise over 25% in 2017
Sweden: ICA December sales increase 4.3%
Switzerland: Aldi Suisse trials parcel delivery service
UK: Asda
…Christmas sales increase revealed in leaked memo
…introduces heart-shaped crumpets for Valentine’s Day
UK: Booker Group
…sales rise 5.9% in Q3
…stakeholder attacks merger with Tesco
UK: Conviviality revenue up nearly 10% in H1 2018
UK: Co-op
…cuts prices on 600 everyday products
…signs advertising placement deal with Coronation Street
…to make own-brand tea bags plastic-free in sustainability fight
UK: Hotel Chocolat reports Christmas sales surge
UK: Iceland to abolish plastic packaging by 2023
UK: Lidl
…launches wine assistant chatbot
…narrowly beats out Aldi in Christmas sales jump
UK: Morrisons
…the last of ‘Big Four’ to scrap single-use plastic bags
…to cut 1,500 store management jobs
UK: Ocado launches in Canada through partnership with Sobeys
UK: Sainsbury’s
…buys Nectar
…says it ‘outperformed the market’ over Christmas
…stops petrol station trial with EuroGarages
…thousands of Sainsbury’s jobs at risk amid cost-cutting drive
UK: Tesco
…sales up 2.3% over Christmas period
…could face costs up to £4 billion in equal pay claim
…cuts 1,700 shopfloor jobs
…delays Clubcard changes after public outcry
…to appoint Booker CEO Charles Wilson to head up merged business
…to give away surplus food to staff
UK: Waitrose
…and John Lewis experience promising Christmas and Black Friday
…launches instore evening yoga classes
…to ban black plastic packaging by 2019
…to end ‘pick your own’ offers
NEWS ANALYSIS – CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR
Germany: Hugo Boss retail sales up 7%
Sweden: H&M lays out turnaround plan to combat falling profit
UK: Ann Summers profits soar 180%
UK: Arcadia demands discount from suppliers
UK: Asos sales grow 30% thanks to delivery innovations
UK: Blaiz moves from online to offline with first physical store
UK: Bonmarché sales down as store performance declines
UK: boohoo revenues up over 100% in UK and Europe
UK: Burberry UK retail sales fall in Q3
UK: East enters administration for second time in three years
UK: Joules edges closer to £100 million in sales in H1
UK: Matalan Christmas revenue up 7.3%
UK: Moss Bros issues profit warning as Christmas sales plummet
UK: N Brown revenue up 3.2% in Q3 as US sales soar
UK: New Look
…bondholders appoint Rothschild to protect financial interests
…managing directors leave the business
…reportedly considering CVA
…sales fall in Q3
UK: Pep&Co to roll out 150 more stores
UK: Primark reports positive Christmas sales
UK: Quiz revenues jump by nearly a third over Christmas
UK: River Island opens first childrenswear shop
UK: Seasalt Christmas sales up 52%
UK: Shoe Zone sales fall in 2017
UK: Superdry revenues grow nearly 14% in Christmas
UK: Ted Baker festive sales soar 9%
UK: Zara opens first click-and-collect store
NEWS ANALYSIS – MULTI-SECTOR RETAILING
UK: B&M sales rise 22.7% in Q3
UK: Marks & Spencer
…appoints interim womenswear and lingerie directors
…partners with data science company amid turnaround strategy
…to close 14 stores
…group sales fall in run up to Christmas
…to cut 1,500 store management jobs
 DEPARTMENT STORES
UK: John Lewis
…launches personal loans
…rolls out more concierge desks
…to expand personal stylist service for men
UK: Debenhams to cut 320 store management jobs
UK: Fortnum and Mason sales rise thanks to British shoppers
UK: House of Fraser
…has credit insurance cut
…sales fall 2.9% over the festive period
UK: Selfridges Christmas figures up 10%
NEWS ANALYSIS – HOME AND HOUSEHOLD GOODS
 CARPETS AND FLOORCOVERINGS
UK: Carpetright suffers as post-Christmas sales fail to deliver
UK: ScS sales rise in H1
 DIY
France: Les Mousquetaires acquisition of Bricorama approved
UK: B&Q to cut 200 jobs
UK: Bunnings UK merchandise boss leaves for Australia
UK: Homebase to close up to 40 stores as Wesfarmers deliberates UK exit
 ELECTRICAL RETAILING
UK: AO World revenue grows 11.4% in Q3
UK: Dixons Carphone sales up 4% over Christmas as Alex Baldock becomes new CEO
UK: Game Christmas sales up 5.2%
UK: Maplin
…launches ‘order now, pay later’ platform
…looks for investment and rent reductions as Christmas sales fall
 FURNITURE RETAILING
Sweden: IKEA
…founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, dies at 91
UK: Sofology acquisition boosts DFS sales
UK: Warren Evans falls into administration
 HOMEWARES
UK: Founder of The Range looks for £2 billion in listing
UK: Dunelm sales up 13.6% over Q2
NEWS ANALYSIS – ONLINE
France: Amazon Alexa to launch in France
Germany: Zalando revenue up 23% for 2017
UK: BHS.com sales up 43%
UK: Ocado
…launches in Canada through partnership with Sobeys
…sales up but profit flatlines thanks to investment
UK: Very takes the crown as Shop Direct celebrates record-breaking Christmas
NEWS ANALYSIS – OTHER RETAIL
 BEAUTY
Finland: K Group removes microbeads from cosmetic products
Finland: Kesko opens Hehku health and wellness stores
France: Bourjois launches store on JD.com
UK: The Fragrance Shop festive sales up 5.6%
UK: Superdrug Christmas sales boosted by online growth
 BOOK AND STATIONERY RETAILING
UK: Card Factory revenues up 5.9%
UK: Waterstones in takeover talks with Elliot Advisors
UK: WH Smith sales fall thanks to poor high street performance
UK: The Works experiences best Christmas yet
 LUXURY
Europe: Richemont makes €2.8 billion bid for Yoox Net-A-Porter
France: Kering offloads shares in Puma
France: LVMH retail sales rise 13% in 2017
Italy: YNAP reaches €2.1 billion in revenue
 PETFOOD AND PETCARE
UK: Pets at Home services boom helps sales grow 7.2%
 SPORTS AND LEISURE GOODS RETAILING
UK: Bradley Wiggins teams up with Le Col to launch cycling apparel
UK: Halfords sales rise thanks to performance of bikes
UK: JD Sports up profit forecast after positive Christmas trading
 TOYS AND GAMES RETAILING
UK: Toys R Us seeks offer for UK business
 TRAVEL
UK: Network Rail station Christmas sales grow 9%
NEWS ANALYSIS – ECONOMY
Europe: EU to propose plastic bag tax
UK: Footfall saw sharpest decline for four years in December
UK: January retail sales edge up
UK: retail sales rise in December
UK: shop prices continue to deflate

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