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European Retail Briefing - June 2018

ANALYST COMMENT – ONLINE AND THE HIGH STREET
The electricals market under pressure
Boulanger’s response
Boulanger and Expert
But stores can fight back
The toy market
The future for toy stores
Where next?
Time for stores to fight back
EUROPEAN RETAIL SALES
Key points
Figure 1: Major European economies: year-on-year retail sales value growth, 2017-18
Figure 2: Major European economies: year-on-year retail sales volume growth, 2017-18
Inflation
Figure 3: Major European economies: all items CPI, 2017-18
Figure 4: Major European economies: food price inflation, 2017-18
LAUNCH ACTIVITY AND INNOVATIONS
Belgium: Carrefour introduces fully-automated drive outlet
France: Auchan launches wine voice assistant
France: IKEA to open a store in Paris
France: Intermarché looks at opening store for elderly shoppers
UK: Amazon buys right to show Premier League matches
UK: Argos and Lego team up for augmented reality offering
UK: Superdrug launches piercing service
HEADLINES FOR THE MONTH
Food and Drink
Clothing and Footwear
Home and Household Goods
Online
Other retailing
Economy
NEWS ANALYSIS – FOOD AND DRINK
France: Auchan stops home delivery
France: Carrefour could close 227 DIA stores
Ireland: Musgrave results soar thanks to SuperValu
Netherlands: Albert Heijn opens new concept store
Norway: Iceland opens first store in Norway
Poland: Intermarché and Bricomarché Poland sales increase 10% in Q1
Poland: Jerónimo Martins favourite to buy Piotr i Pawel
Portugal: Jerónimo Martins to source 100% of electricity from renewable sources
Spain: Eroski returns to profit in 2017
Spain: Grupo DIA…
…refurbishes cash & carry stores Max Discount
…sales and profits fall in Q1
UK: Asda
…full year profits fall
…sales rise for fourth quarter in a row
UK: Co-op…
…to give away food to community groups to fight food waste
…introduce reverse vending machines for plastic recycling
UK: Morrisons sales up 3.6% in Q1
UK: Hotel Chocolat repays ‘chocolate bonds’
UK: Iceland aims to become a dementia-friendly retailer
UK: Morrisons increases funding for ‘honesty’ fridges
UK: Tesco…
…seeks to create closed loop recycling system
…to close Tesco Direct
UK: Sainsbury’s introduces in-store ice cream parlours
UK: Waitrose collaborates with Bupa to launch in-store health checks
NEWS ANALYSIS – CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR
France: Kidiliz and Chinese group Semir enter exclusive takeover negotiations
Germany: Takko Fashion revenue up 1.3% in 2017
Italy: Burberry acquires leather manufacturer
Sweden: Afound to open debut stores
UK: Arcadia owner Taveta reports a 42% drop in profit
UK: Bags Etc enters administration
UK: Burberry profit rises and revenue dips over full year
UK: H&M to change UK clothing sizes
UK: Joules full year revenue up 18%
UK: Matalan reports annual rise in profit and sales
UK: MSGM to open first UK store
UK: Monsoon losses fall in 2017
UK: Moss Bros sales continue to decline but CEO remains optimistic
UK: Mothercare…
…group profit falls 88%
…secures creditor support for CVA
…to accelerate store closures
…to close 50 stores as part of CVA
UK: Next…
…demands rent parity with struggling rivals
…first quarter sales rise 6%
UK: QUIZ…
…partners with TOWIE cast members
…profits and sales soar
UK: Shoe Zone sales and profits rise in H1
UK: Topshop/Topman falls to full year loss for 2017
NEWS ANALYSIS – HOME AND HOUSEHOLD GOODS
 CARPET RETAILING
UK: Carpetright…
…launches plans to raise £60 million in funding
…secures extra funding
 DIY RETAILING
Europe: Kingfisher places customers at centre of sustainability plan
France: Mr Bricolage sales hit by bad weather
UK: Former Comet owner targets Homebase
UK: Graham & Brown launches decorating visualisation app
UK: Kingfisher sales down in Q1 due to weather conditions
UK: Topps Tiles profit falls in H1
UK: Wesfarmers sells Homebase for nominal £1 fee
UK: Wickes to axe a third of head office jobs
 ELECTRICAL RETAILING
Europe: Fnac Darty…
…and MediaMarkt/Saturn join forces for European Retail Alliance
…increases delivery fulfilment options
France: Boulanger to merge with Expert & Connexion
UK: Buy It Direct makes offer for Maplin’s brand and online store
UK: Dixons Carphone warns on profits and announces store-closing program
 FURNITURE RETAILING
UK: Dunelm issues profit warning as store like-for-likes decline
UK: Fabb Sofas goes into administration
 GARDEN CENTRES
UK: Wyevale Garden Centres put up for sale
NEWS ANALYSIS – ONLINE RETAILING
UK: Amazon…
…launches new campaign with PayPoint
…to create over 2,500 jobs
UK: BHS.com closed after less than two years of operating
UK: Ocado signs deal with Kroger
UK: Shop Direct…
…falls into loss as PPI claims hit profits
…to merge Very Exclusive with Very
UK: The Hut Group turnover increases 47%
NEWS ANALYSIS – OTHER RETAILING
 BOOKS AND STATIONERY RETAILING
UK: Card Factory sales up in Q1
UK: Smiggle sales up 91.7% in 2017
 DEPARTMENT STORES
Germany: Kaufland to roll out self-checkout service to 160 stores
UK: Debenhams…
…and Estée Lauder unveil in-store #beautyhub
…launches three new suiting brands
UK: House of Fraser…
…could be shutting half of its stores
…insists it is ‘on track’ for CVA
…lenders demand shareholders inject funds into retailer
…losses climb to £44 million in 2017
…to shut more than half of its stores
UK: John Lewis acquires home improvement business Opun
 HEALTH AND BEAUTY RETAILING
UK: Feelunique partners with Veleza
 LUXURY RETAILING
France: LVMH invests heavily into Lyst
Italy: Richemont completes takeover of Yoox Net-A-Porter
Switzerland: Richemont to buy Watchfinder
UK: Desmond & Dempsey opens first pop-up shop
 MIXED GOODS RETAILING
UK: B&M full year profits and revenues jump
UK: Marks & Spencer…
…profits drop 62.1% in 2017
…to close more stores
…to rebrand to Markle & Sparkle for royal wedding
UK: Poundworld
…to appoint administrators
…Alteri nears rescue deal with Poundworld
…up for sale
 PETS RETAILING
UK: Pets at Home services boost fails to stop profit falling in 2017
 SPORTS AND LEISURE GOODS
UK: Halfords sales rise but profits dip as it hires new chairman
UK: JD Sports relaunches Supply & Demand brand
UK: Mountain Warehouse sales rise by 22%
 TOYS RETAILING
France: La Grande Récré is set to close 53 stores
UK: Jollyes bought by Kester Capital
NEWS ANALYSIS – ECONOMY 
Europe: European Commission proposes ban on single-use plastics
UK: April retail sales edge up 0.8%
UK: BRC figures show jump in retail sales of 4.1%
UK: government launches commission into high street
UK: landlords fight back against CVAs
UK: landlords to fight use of CVAs to cut rent
UK: shop prices drop in May

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