This week's retail news 'you may have missed'.....
Please also check out our latest blog "Brace for the bite" https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/mdj2-associates_retail-hospitality-strategy-activity-7291001673525731329-5VXF?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAF-jq8BTlEXdfrQQd41PxDz6RKlciFD8GQ
At mdj2, we’re passionate about retail and always looking to share our news, views, and insights. With so much information out there, we wanted to share just a small selection of retail news headlines from last week that we found interesting…?
?BRC: Retail crime ‘spiralling out of control’ as incidents reach record high.
The British Retail Consortium has warned that retail crime is “spiralling out of control” despite more being spent on prevention than ever before.
The?trade body’s?annual crime survey reports that violent and abusive incidents are up more than 50% last year, while retailers are reporting 55,000 thefts a day.
Verbal and physical attacks, violent threats, and sexual and racial abuse in stores have rocketed to more than 2,000 incidents a day in the year to the end of August, up from 1,300 the previous year and more than three times the 2020 level.
Theft also reached an all-time high with over 20 million incidents in the year costing retailers ￡2.2bn, up from ￡1.8bn the previous year.
The BRC found that the amount spent on crime prevention is also at a record high, with retailers investing ￡1.8bn on measures such as CCTV, more security personnel, anti-theft devices and body worn cameras, up from ￡1.2bn the previous year. This means the total cost of crime has surged 21% from ￡3.3bn to ￡4.2bn.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “Retail crime is spiralling out of control. People in retail have been spat on, racially abused, and threatened with machetes.
“Every day this continues, criminals are getting bolder and more aggressive. We owe it to the three million hardworking people working in retail to bring the epidemic of crime to heel. No one should go to work in fear.
“With little faith in police attendance, it is no wonder criminals feel they have licence to steal, threaten, assault and abuse. Retailers are spending more than ever before, but they cannot prevent crime alone.”
Poundland launched its?“largest-ever investment into anti-theft technology and security”?earlier this month to address the growing issues of shop theft, abuse, and harassment faced by its employees.
The retailer?enhanced its security infrastructure, including the introduction of anti-theft technology and communication headsets for its staff across its 800-plus stores. It is also allowing its contracted security teams to detain suspected offenders in-store.
?Crew Clothing plans to open at least 20 stores in 2025.
Crew?Clothing has revealed plans to open at least 20 new stores in 2025 after launching 15 in the previous year.
The lifestyle fashion brand?has also reported “exceptional” growth in its Christmas trading period with sales increasing by 45% in the two weeks to 24 December.
Crew?Clothing attributed the success to the strength of its multichannel approach, which includes ecommerce, retail stores and third-party sales partnerships.
Ecommerce sales surged by 70% in the period while in-store sales increased by 22%.
Meanwhile, sales through third parties such as John Lewis and M&S climbed by 34%.
Looking ahead, Crew Clothing said: “With strong results, a clear growth strategy, and unwavering support for British retail and sports,?Crew?Clothing is well-positioned for further success in 2025.”
?B&Q expands number of products available on Deliveroo.
B&Q has expanded its trial with Deliveroo to include five of its larger London stores to offer customers?over 9500 products available for on-demand delivery.
Customers local to the retailer’s stores in Beckton, Sidcup, Watford, Acton and Romford, will be able to order products from?the extended range?in as little as 25 minutes.
The wider choice of B&Q products available to order on Deliveroo include a larger selection of paint brands, gardening, storage and home furnishing products.
It follows the launch of the service from?the DIY retailer’s?smaller high street B&Q Local stores back in August.
B&Q supply and logistics director Amelie Gallichan-Todd said: “We’re constantly looking at ways we can enhance the experience of our customers, and by extending our service with Deliveroo to five of our larger stores, we’re increasing the range of products available, to help meet the increasing consumer demand for speed and convenience as well as options for delivery.
Deliveroo VP of new verticals Suzy McClintock added:?“We are delighted to expand our partnership with B&Q, adding five larger stores allowing us to deliver thousands of DIY products to even more customers’ doors across London.
“Our customers value the convenience of ordering everything from masking tape and dust sheets to spanners and paint for on-demand delivery, enabling them to continue their projects without delay.”
Deliveroo Shopping has continued to grow?since its launch last November, with consumers now able to purchase DIY items alongside homeware, toys, flowers, baby items and gifts.
The firm has recently expanded its partners with names such as?Not On The High Street, Iceland and The Perfume Shop all available to purchase from on the app.
?Independent retail association expresses alarm as WHSmith considers selling all UK stores.
The potential sale of WHSmith's entire high street operation comes as Sainsbury's announced 3,000 job cuts, Morrisons revealed plans to slash over 200 positions, and major banks confirmed 169 branch closures across NatWest, Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland for 2025.
The?British Independent Retailers Association?(Bira), which works with over 6,000 independent businesses of all sizes across the UK, believes this latest development signals a critical point for UK high streets.
Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira said: "The news about WHSmith potentially selling all their high street stores is particularly concerning as it follows a stream of other negative announcements affecting our town centres. Job losses at Sainsbury's and Morrisons, combined with another wave of bank closures, creates a perfect storm for many high streets across the UK. WHSmith has been a cornerstone of British retail for over two centuries, and their potential exit from the high street represents a significant shift in the retail landscape. Many WHSmith branches also house Post Office counters, so their closure would create yet another serious gap in essential high street services for local communities.
"These closures and job losses will inevitably impact footfall in town centres, affecting independent retailers who rely on these anchor stores and banks to drive customer traffic. We need urgent government intervention to support our high streets before we see even more closures and job losses," he added.
WHSmith's decision reflects the growing challenges faced by traditional retailers, with the company's travel retail business now accounting for approximately three-quarters of group revenue and 85% of trading profit.
?Interview: How The Range plans to keep the Homebase brand alive.
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The Range parent group CDS Superstores is slowly building its portfolio of British household names, after billionaire owner Chris Dawson swooped in to snap up the Homebase brand and up to 70 of its stores out of administration late last year.
The value group, which also owns Wilko, kicked off 2025 by relaunching the DIY and garden retailer’s website and unveiling its?first set of new-format superstores.
The nine stores, all refurbishments of existing Homebase units, mark the first tranche of CDS plans to convert 53 locations by the end of May.
Alex Simpkin, CEO of The Range owner CDS Superstores, admits the business has a big task – explains that the business will open “three stores every Friday” between now and the end of May.
This would be a relentless schedule for any store refurbishment programme – and Simpkin says his team is dealing with the added challenge of Homebase administrators at Teneo handing over the keys to each store in phases. This has made planning store refurbishments ahead of time nearly impossible.
He explains this has meant The Range has had to “be a lot more scientific about how we would merchandise” and blend its shop fit team with its merchandising team.
Retail Gazette caught up with Simpkin and the group’s chief digital officer Ben Exall to find out how The Range plans to keep the Homebase brand alive.
?What are the plans for the brand?
The Range has wasted no time in integrating?Homebase into its portfolio?after first circling the brand in July last year.
While Dawson denied reports at the time, he told Retail Gazette in August that expanding into “garden centres will be the next obvious one for us”.
The timings aligned when Homebase’s owner Hilco put the chain up for sale at the tail end of last year as it required a fresh injection of funding.
It seems like DIY and garden chain is set to receive a similar treatment to Wilko, which the group spent most of last year investing in as it relaunched the high street chain’s own-branded products,?expanded its online offer?and reopened its stores.
Simpkin says the Homebase brand will be “quite prevalent” throughout the wider business.
The Range debuted its new ‘Garden Centres by Homebase’ and ‘Kitchens by Homebase’ concepts earlier this month when it unveiled its first set of new stores in Pollokshaws in Glasgow,?Christchurch in Bournemouth, and Kings Heath in Birmingham.
The retailer is also planning on making minor adjustments to its existing store portfolio, including renaming 100 of its garden centres.
“In the business, where we’ve got 34 stores that have got kitchen showrooms which are branded ‘The Range kitchen collection’, we’ve rebranded, so that will be ‘Kitchens by Homebase’, and likewise with the garden centres,” Simpkin explains.
“We’re very much homing in on the horticultural side now, not just at the store level, but within our buying merchandising teams, taking a lot of what was great about Homebase Gardens.”
He adds that part of the plan will also include relaunching some the chain’s branded products, including its Powerbase range.
“As you walk around [the stores], you’ll see some Homebase branded products gradually increase with time,” Simpkin notes.
?Homebase 2.0
Homebase’s garden centre expertise?may have first attracted The Range’s parent company, but the retail giant is also keen to hold on to the brand’s DIY roots.
Around 20 of the newly converted stores will house Dulux paint mixing stations so “we can really tap into that Homebase shopper”, Exall says.
“We want to obviously make sure that we maintain and service them as well as offer them everything The Range is famous for,” he adds.
Simpkin says that the group hopes to bring in “more premium paint brands” under its Homebase offer too.
He explains the business will still offer “pretty much all” of the categories that the garden and DIY chain had but “maybe not to the same level such as flooring”.
Homebase’s flooring offer, which included a partnership with Tapi Carpets, has been significantly scaled back following the?relaunch of its website.
According to Exall, the newly revamped website now lists “double the amount of products” it had previously and offers click and collect to The Range’s 200+ UK footprint.
“We’re really offering more convenience for customers. From a breadth of offer perspective, we’re keeping it very much true to home improvement and garden, because that’s Homebase heritage, but with a lot more choice and offer.”
Exall says that its ‘Kitchens by Homebase’ will be available on the website “as an active, inspirational platform for you to help browse and configure your kitchen” and customers will be able to then go into a store for a kitchen appointment.
?Homebase is our ‘priority’
The timing of the Homebase acquisition coincides with the group’s efforts to?revive the Wilko brand and Exall admits that the discount chain’s expansion plans have been put on pause while the roll out of Homebase becomes the “priority”.
The business, which had originally targeted 300 Wilko stores over the next five years,?opened its seventh in The Pavilions Shopping Centre in Uxbridge?last November.
“Wilko is absolutely here to stay, and we’re going to continue to invest in it,” he says.
“We have to be realistic; we’ve had this opportunity and we’ve got to prioritise ‘Garden Centres by Homebase’ so we get as many as these live before our peak trading season in summer.
“We don’t want to take on too much, we want to make sure that we get these right and we’ve got over 50 stores that we’re rolling out, and that’s our priority at the moment.”
Whether the Homebase brand will be introduced into Wilko stores is still “to be confirmed”, Exall notes.
“We absolutely want to maintain some fantastic products sitting under Powerbase, which is predominantly the lawn mower and outside power tool brand, so that will be appearing on all of our websites and all of our stores,” he says.
Just as it has done with the Wilko brand, The Range owner is ensuring Homebase’s 40-year legacy lives on.
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