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European Retail Briefing - August 2018

ANALYST COMMENT – THE QUIET ASCENT OF RICHEMONT
What we’ve seen
Digital invasion
Figure 1: Richemont brand IWC Schaffhausen on Mr Porter, 2018
Baume with the kids
Figure 2: Customisable Baume watch, 2018
Figure 3: Jewellery and watch shopper behaviour, by generation, July 2017
Shades of grey
Figure 4: Watch purchasing behaviour, July 2018
What it means
EUROPEAN RETAIL SALES
Key points
Figure 5: Major European economies: year-on-year retail sales value growth, 2017-18
Figure 6: Major European economies: year-on-year retail sales volume growth, 2017-18
Inflation
Figure 7: Major European economies: all items CPI, 2017-18
Figure 8: Major European economies: food price inflation, 2017-18
LAUNCH ACTIVITY AND INNOVATIONS
Belgium: Carrefour launches new service featuring personal shoppers
France: Leclerc re-launches recycling programme
Germany: Kaufland launches new to-go brand
Italy: Nova Coop adds in-store nutritional advice service
Italy: Sephora launch new interactive store concept
HEADLINES FOR THE MONTH
Grocers
Footwear retailing
Multi-sector retailing
Electrical retailing
Home shopping
Sports and leisure goods retailing
Jewellers
Toys and games retailing
NEWS ANALYSIS – FOOD AND DRINK
 CO-OPS
UK: Co-op considering sale of insurance arm
 CONVENIENCE STORES
UK: McColl’s like-for-like sales down 2.7%
 GROCERS
Belgium: Albert Heijn raises profits by 40%
Belgium: Carrefour launching online sales platform for local products
France: French regulator to investigate effect of grocery mergers
Germany: Kaufland pledges to reduce single-use plastics
Ireland: Tesco Ireland appoints first female chief executive
Netherlands: Ahold Delhaize reports Q2 sales of €18 billion
Netherlands: Dutch supermarket to provide online nutritional service
Portugal: Intermarché to launch urban stores
Spain: Gadisa launches two new Claudio Express stores
Spain: Mercadona invests €1.8 million into new supermarket
UK: Aldi
…and Lidl will close early if England makes World Cup Final
…suppliers contacted regarding ‘no deal’ Brexit
UK: Asda
…the first supermarket to join Microfibre Consortium
…260 jobs at risk as Asda warehouse faces closure
UK: Iceland
…and The Range partner up
…introducing 13 vegan-friendly foods to its stores
UK: Lidl
…plans to build 3,000 homes and a school
…World Cup drives record breaking sales for Lidl
…testing first fruit and vegetable boxes
UK: M&S expands Click & Collect service
UK: Morrisons introduce ‘quiet hour’ for autistic shopping
UK: Sainsbury’s to offer food-to-go range in selected WH Smith stores
UK: Tesco
…facing £4bn bill as equal pay claims hit 1,000
…to unveil discount chain
…UK chief executive steps down due to illness
 OTHER FOOD SPECIALISTS
Denmark: Hotel Chocolat Group transfer its retail stores to Retail Brands
UK: Greggs total sales up 5.2%
UK: Hotel Chocolat revenue increases 12%
NEWS ANALYSIS – CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR 
UK: Barbour to launch new young fashion brand
UK: Bonmarché report uplift in first quarter sales
UK: Boux Avenue launches activewear range
UK: Bravissimo full year sales up 3.4%
UK: Burberry
…destroys £28.6 million worth of stock
…Q1 sales up
UK: H&M team up with interior brand
UK: Hugo Boss opening first standalone Hugo store
UK: Joules Group revenues rise 18.4%
UK: Matalan reveals strong first quarter revenue growth
UK: New Look profits rise during its first quarter
UK: Next second-quarter sales up 2.8%
 FOOTWEAR RETAILING
Belgium: FNG raises capital to expand Brantano business
UK: Pavers launch new charity initiative
NEWS ANALYSIS – MIXED GOODS 
UK: B&M
…diversifies board with two female appointments
…trading update
UK: Poundworld
…employees face redundancy as further 40 stores set to close
…founder of Poundland reportedly considering a return to the high street
…brand could be saved
 MULTI-SECTOR RETAILING
France: LVMH reports strong first half
Spain: Major retail merger between El Rincon and Martin Martin
UK: M&S
…and Decoded launch world’s first retail data academy
…threat of even more store closures
…making further cuts to management roles
…partners with True as part of digital innovation drive
…partnership with Founders Factory aims to invest in start-ups
…strikes deal with Octopus Energy
UK: Mothercare raises funds with share offer
 DEPARTMENT STORES
UK: Debenhams
…credit rating downgraded
…to launch in-store gym at Sutton branch
…under pressure as credit insurers reduce cover
UK: House of Fraser
…C. Banner rescue deal falls through
…CVA to face legal challenge
…rescue deal faces delay
…landlords dispute regarding House of Fraser’s CVA proposals reaches agreement
…turning to Mike Ashley for possible £50 million rescue
…bought by Sports Direct for £90 million
UK: John Lewis
…set for biggest revamp of its stores
…unveils its biggest fashion collection to date
…the John Lewis Partnership selects finalists to join retail tech innovation programme
UK: pressure on auditing watchdog to publish report on BHS audit
NEWS ANALYSIS – HOUSEHOLD GOODS
UK: B&Q
…changes one loyalty scheme to push for lower prices
…kitchens and bathrooms business creates 800 jobs
…slashing prices to lure new customers
UK: Homebase owner plans a CVA
UK: Travis Perkins report 4.6% decline in pre-tax profits
 ELECTRICAL RETAILING
France: Fnac Darty first-half results show strong growth
 FURNITURE RETAILING
UK: DFS profit warning
UK: Dunelm witnesses strong online sales performance (+41.8%)
UK: IKEA
…vows to remove all single-use plastic straws from products and restaurants by October
…new store to open on Tottenham Court Road
UK: ScS report full-year trading in line with expectations
NEWS ANALYSIS – ONLINE
Germany: Zalando second quarter revenue up 20.9%
Italy: JD.com wants to expand to Italy as part of European expansion
UK: Amazon
…and first UK public sector procurement deal
…UK tax bill lowest in five years
UK: ASOS revenue up 22%
UK: Ocado first-half revenue up, but earnings down
UK: Reshaping of Shop Direct board leads to departure of retail director Jon Rudoe
UK: WhereWolf app launches first UK pop-up store
NEWS ANALYSIS – OTHER RETAIL
 HEALTH & BEAUTY RETAILING
UK: Holland & Barrett to launch vegan stores
 BOOK AND STATIONERY RETAILING
UK: Card Factory Group sales up 3.2%
UK: The Works enters the stock market in £100 million float
 SPORTS AND LEISURE GOODS RETAILING
Italy: North Face opens pop-up store at 2,100 metres altitude
UK: Evans Cycles reduces losses
UK: Sports Direct profits drop by 72%
 JEWELLERS
Denmark: Pandora chief steps down after sales growth warning
UK: Tiffany opening new Covent Garden Store
 GARDEN CENTRES
UK: Wyevale sells eight garden centres to Blue Diamond
 OPTICIANS
UK: French optician to launch in the UK
 TOYS AND GAMES RETAILING
Netherlands: Gaming shop opens up second futuristic concept store
UK: Games Workshop annual report shows profits nearly double
UK: Six Toys ‘R’ Us stores sold for £30.5 million
 MISCELLANEOUS SPECIALIST RETAILING
UK: Pets at Home reports 8.1% revenue growth
 SHOPPING CENTRES
UK: Boxpark to open on Brighton seafront
UK: Coal Drops Yard confirms opening date of October 26
UK: Hammerson sells two retail parks
UK: ICON outlet reveals first signings for opening in 02 centre
UK: Intu half-year performance hailed as resilient
NEWS ANALYSIS – ECONOMY
UK: BRC
…retail sales slowed in July
…like-for-like retail sales up 1.1% in June 2018
…heatwave drives food price inflation
UK: June retail sales up by 4.4%
UK: Retail footfall down 0.9%

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