Metrocentre’s Green Mall is set to welcome specialist kitchenware brand ProCook, footwear retailer Clarks, and lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret.   ProCook is set to open a 3,326 sq ft space in Metrocentre’s Lower Green Mall later this year. The kitchenware brand will stock a wide range of high-quality cookware, knives, tableware, and smaller kitchen appliances, with a choice of over 1,400 products on offer. Clarks will open a new 3,619 sq ft unit next month opposite Boots, sitting close to a range of high street retailers including Flying Tiger Copenhagen and Next. The new store will ..read more

Adidas has upped its profit guidance for the year after it revealed its Q1 profits increased to €336m (£287m), up from €60m (£51m) the previous year. In Q1, the sportswear giant reported currency-neutral revenues increased 8% versus the prior year level. In euro terms, the company’s revenues grew 4% to €5.45bn (£4.6bn) up from €5.27bn (£4.5bn). The company’s gross margin also improved 6.4 percentage points to 51.2% during the quarter. As a result of the better-than-expected performance during the quarter, the company now expects currency-neutral revenues to increase at a mid- to high-single-di ..read more

Dunelm has revealed that its sales for the 13 weeks ended 30 March 2024 rose 3% to £435m year-on-year. Alongside this, the company’s total digital sales rose 1% up to 37%, including home deliveries. Despite what it called a “challenging trading environment”, Dunelm expects its FY24 PBT to be broadly in line with the market expectations of between £200m-£205m. Dunelm stated that trading conditions continued to be volatile in the period with March in particular seeing softer levels of demand. Nick Wilkinson, CEO, said: “We have delivered a resilient performance in Q3, with continued volume-based ..read more

Shein is reportedly amongst a “number” of retailers still interested in acquiring the Topshop brand from Asos. According to The Times, Asos has received “non-stop interest” from a range of high-profile retailers, including the fast-fashion giant.  Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which now owns Ted Baker and Forever 21, is also said to have shown interest in acquiring Topshop. Reports that Shein was eyeing a Topshop takeover first emerged last year, after the fast-fashion retailer acquired Missguided from Frasers Group for an undisclosed amount.  It is understood that Asos had been mull ..read more

Bp has announced it is continuing to invest in the security of its employees by rolling out the Auror retail crime intelligence platform across its 300 company-owned stores and is implementing Reveal body worn cameras at stores experiencing higher levels of abuse and crime. These initiatives are part of bp’s approach to keeping employees and customers safe by increasing its capabilities to gather and share relevant intelligence on retail crime with local police and other retailers, as well as implementing store hardening measures and introducing some of the latest advancements in technology to ..read more

Harvey Nichols has appointed Julia Goddard, EMEA president of Alexander McQueen, as its new chief executive officer, effective June 2024. Goddard’s appointment comes after Manju Malhotra, who served as CEO for 25 years, resigned last August. Before joining Harvey Nichols, Goddard spent 14 years at Alexander McQueen, where she led the EMEA Region as president from 2019 to 2024 with dynamic growth and expansion for the region in wholesale, retail and e-concession channels. This included new flagships in key cities such as London, Paris, Milan, Rome, Dubai, Kuwait, and Qatar with a strong focus o ..read more

Gucci has announced the appointment of Stefano Cantino as the brand’s new deputy chief executive officer, reporting to Jean-François Palus, president and CEO, from 2 May.   In this newly created position, Cantino will share with Palus the responsibility to define and implement the brand strategy.   He joins Gucci after spending over five years at Louis Vuitton, where he has overseen  communication and image. Prior to his time at Louis Vuitton, Cantino, who holds a degree in  Political Science from the University of Turin, has spent over 20 years in Prada Group in ..read more

Asos has seen its losses deepen to £120m in the first half of the year, a 32.6% increase compared to the same period last year, as sales fell by 18% to £1.5bn over the period.  The dip in sales was attributed to planned discounting to clear old stock, a move that forms part of the group’s ongoing turnaround plan. For the rest of the year, the brand said it expects a further decline of sales of 5% to 15% but a return to growth in the final quarter of FY24.  The group also expects underlying earnings for the 2025 financial year to be “significantly higher” than FY24 and FY23 due to the ..read more

Inflation slowed to 3.2% in March, down from 3.4% the prior month, as inflation fell to its lowest annual rate since September 2021.  According to the Office for National Statistics, food prices were the main reason for the fall, with prices across most categories rising by less against last year. However, the largest, partially offsetting, upward contribution came from motor fuels, with prices rising this year but falling a year ago. Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 4.0% in the year to March 2024, down from 5.0% in February, with the March figure marking the lowes ..read more

Grocery delivery app, Getir, is reportedly considering a number of asset sales as part of restructuring talks, according to Sky News. It is understood that the Turkish Group, which has expanded its presence in the UK, is in talks to offload FreshDirect, a US-based online grocer that it acquired late last year, as well as BiTaksi, a ride service in Turkey.  News of the potential asset sales follows Sky News’ reveal that Getir was also in talks regarding a “radical” restructuring just two years after it was valued at almost $12bn (£9.6bn).  This comes after the delivery app has already ..read more