This week's retail news 'you may have missed'....
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…?
?Screwfix announces store expansion plans.
The company says the focus is on ultra convenience with up to 35 new stores set to open across the UK and Ireland by the end of January 2026.
Screwfix, the omnichannel retailer, has announced plans to open up to 35 new stores across the UK and Ireland by the end of January 2026, creating more than 400 jobs in local communities.
The ambitious store opening strategy is spearheaded by its recently launched new store format, Screwfix City. Screwfix opened seven City stores in FY24 (1st Feb 2024 – 31st Jan 2025), with plans for this to form the majority of new openings in FY25.
The company says its Screwfix City stores offer even greater convenience to busy tradespeople. Located in high footfall areas, City stores provide the essential products customers need to get their jobs done quickly, affordably and right first time. The new store format offers a range of more than 3,000 essential products via Click and Collect, with a further 48,000 available online for next day collection.
In addition, Screwfix Sprint – the rapid delivery service that provides products on site or at home in 60 minutes or less – is also available from City stores. Exclusively available through the Screwfix app, Screwfix Sprint is now available from 485 store locations, covering 58% of the UK population.?
John Mewett, Screwfix CEO, commented: “We’re proud to continue Screwfix’s amazing growth with our plans to open up to 35 new stores within this financial year. Despite the challenges facing the retail industry, investing in our store network remains central to how we can best support tradespeople to get their jobs done quickly, affordably, and right first time.
“Our customers continue to be busy, and we know how important it is to be near a Screwfix store. We are driving forward with our store openings and continuing to focus on providing the ultimate convenience for our customers through our ultra-compact store format, Screwfix City and rapid delivery service, Screwfix Sprint.
“As a business we’re focused on doing the right thing in the communities we serve. Through our sustainability commitments we’re committed to reducing our impact on the environment by reducing our carbon emissions and we’re proud to have donated more than ￡15m to local charities and not-for-profit organisations through The Screwfix Foundation.”
?Retailers cutting costs and jobs in the face of cost challenges:
Pets at Home has entered consultation with 2,500 store staff as it moves to a three-tier management structure, which currently includes store, deputy and assistant managers.
Pets at Home is dropping the assistant store manager role.
The retailer’s colleague structure on the shop floor will also be simplified, with the current three tiers of pet care expert, pet care adviser and store assistant model moving to just pet colleague and pet customer expert.
It is understood that most of the current assistant store managers are expected to move to the pet customer expert role, while most store assistants will move into the pet colleague role.
Pets at Home said the restructure was about simplifying a six-layer colleague model that was “no longer fit for purpose”, instead of removing headcount and knowledge from the shop floor.
John Lewis Partnership staff at the employee-owned group have missed out on a bonus for the third consecutive year.? Despite tripling profits, John Lewis said it would not pay a bonus as it prioritised?investing ￡114m into base pay.
Asda has axed hundreds of jobs connected to its botched ￡800m IT upgrade.
More than 200 employees that were contracted to work on the transformation and separation of the supermarket’s IT system from former owner Walmart have been dismissed this week.
It is understood that more staff will be leaving in the coming weeks and months as they complete their roles on the Project Future changeover.
Schuh has cut 39 jobs across its head office and stores as part of a wider restructure to trim costs.
The footwear retailer confirmed that it was making redundancies, with some jobs going on a voluntary basis.
Frasers Group has entered a consultation with selected staff within its design and editorial teams as part of a latest restructure, Retail Gazette has learnt.? Sources within?the retail giant?said the consultations kicked off earlier this month on 7 March, impacting employees across both the retailer’s London HQ and Shirebrook offices.
A company?spokesperson confirmed that 30% of staff in the affected teams will be impacted.
The cuts are understood to primarily affect recent hires, while managerial roles remain unaffected. The redundancy process forms part of a wider restructuring effort aimed at streamlining the company’s operations.
These job cuts follow a series of restructuring efforts at Frasers Group.
In April, the group?put 100 roles at risk?as part of plans to close its Trafford office in Manchester. This was followed by a consultation in the summer, which saw 45 roles impacted as the company moved its trading digital team from London to its Shirebrook HQ.
Seasalt has warned of “a number” of redundancies across its operations as the business deals with “increased tax burdens following the budget”.
The?fashion retailer?has put an unspecified number of roles across its business into consultation after “thoroughly reviewing” its cost base.
The retailer, which operates more than 60 stores across the UK and Ireland, said the measures will enable the business to “continue investing in our growth plans” while also dealing with increased employer National Insurance contributions, as well as “a continued decline in positive customer sentiment and rising inflation rates”.
?New Look to open new concept store at Bluewater.
New Look is to relocate to a new 12,120 square foot concept store within the Bluewater shopping centre.
Due to open on 3 April, it will be situated on the Upper Thames Walk next to Clarendon Fine Art.
The shop will introduce the?fashion retailer’s first omni-hub space that integrates new initiatives such as digital inspiration, showrooms, and displays to create a more engaging shopping experience.
The upgraded space builds on insights from New Look’s ￡3 million investment into its Manchester stores and the success of trials in optimising product merchandising and aligning the shopfloor with the brand’s identity.
Customers will also be able to make use of a dedicated service hub to improve collections and returns for a seamless shopping experience.
The shop will stock the brand’s range womenswear and accessories and will also have a menswear showroom. The store’s mezzanine floor will be dedicated to New Look’s 915 collection, which offers a range of casual clothing, sportswear and accessories for girls aged nine to 15.
?Iceland to roll out thousands of digital screens in major retail media push.
Iceland?Foods is gearing up for a major push into retail media, with plans to add potentially thousands of digital screens to its stores, The Grocer can reveal.
Ahead of the rollout, Iceland has created its first-ever in-house team dedicated to retail media. Category trading manager Adam Smith has been promoted to head of retail media to lead the new Iceland retail media team.
The team will take ownership for all elements of retail media, including screens,?online?advertising and traditional paper POS across Iceland and Food Warehouse stores.
Previously, Iceland’s retail media function was handled solely by external contract agencies, who would then report to buyers. The new team would work directly with?suppliers?and Iceland’s buyers, Smith told The Grocer.
“This is a much more dedicated resource that will offer best-in-class service,” said Smith. “It will allow us to improve the service clients get for spending money with us.”
The new team will also oversee a rapid expansion of Iceland’s retail media offer across its entire store estate. The long-term plan is to roll out screens to all Iceland and Food Warehouse stores.
Iceland has already introduced digital screens in some of its newer format stores but has yet to install the tech in the majority of its store estate.
The frozen specialist also plans to ramp up its online capabilities to improve the level of analytics and insights that can be offered to suppliers.
It is the?latest in a number of supermarkets to ramp up retail media capabilities.?
Tesco has predicted the medium will overtake TV advertising spend by 2025?and has urged suppliers to invest in its own major retail media retail rollout, alongside its Dunnhumby data arm.
When complete, the 6,000 screens would be Europe’s largest screen estate.?Tesco?also intends to roll out the “next generation” of its handheld scanners to create more personalised offers.
IAB predicts that UK retail media spend will surpass ￡1bn by the end of 2025, rising to more than ￡7bn by 2028 if?Amazon?is included.
With nearly 1,000 stores nationwide?and plans to double its Food Warehouse estate?– as well as a significant online next-day delivery business?– Iceland has one of the UK’s largest grocery store footprints, making retail media a compelling proposition for the supermarket.
?Marks & Spencer to launch Hush and Whistles on third-party brand platform.
Marks & Spencer has announced Hush and Whistles as the latest third-party additions to its ‘Brands at M&S’ platform, as womenswear "remains a top performing category".
Hush will be available to shop on the department store's platform from 12 March, followed by the arrival of Whistles in April.
Hush and Whistles will be the first dedicated womenswear brands to launch on the ‘Brands at M&S’ platform this year. They will introduce more than 300 new season womenswear products, including day dresses, trend-forward denim, boho-style blouses, coords, outerwear, and a selection of bags, heels and sandals.
The range will also include an exclusive 12-piece collection from Hush, with summer separates and the fashion brand’s bestselling barrel leg jean in leopard print. It will be the first time M&S has offered an exclusive capsule for a third-party brand launch.
Additionally, Marks & Spencer is welcoming back Nobody’s Child pop-up shops to stores from 13 March, including 28 new locations such as Kew, Merry Hill and Braehead, bringing the total number of M&S stores featuring Nobody’s Child to 56.
The pop-up shops will offer a capsule collection of 40 pieces from Nobody’s Child’s SS25 collection, including a mix of signature dresses, tops, blouses and trousers.
Nishi Mahajan, Director of Third-Party Brands, Clothing & Home at M&S, said: "Four years ago, we introduced a small selection of third-party womenswear brands to M&S and today it continues to be our best performing category. We’re continuing to listen and learn from our customers; we know that in womenswear, they want highly credible, fashion-led brands which complement and enhance our core offer at M&S.
"We’re confident the arrival of Hush and Whistles, as well as the return of our Nobody’s Child pop-up shops, will ensure we are the destination for womenswear this season as we continue to drive style perceptions and grow market share.
"I'm particularly excited to introduce our exclusive collection with Hush, offering customers effortlessly stylish pieces that can’t be found anywhere else."
As M&S "continues to reshape for growth", the retailer now holds its highest market share in womenswear for years (10.4%), while womenswear is a top performing category within ‘Brands at M&S’ - making up nearly half (49%) of sales in the last 12 months, with sales up 18% versus last year.
Hush and Whistles will bolster the existing offer of womenswear brands and sit alongside Chinti & Parker, Baukjen and Nobody’s Child, which was the first third-partner brand to launch at M&S in 2020, bringing the total number to 26.
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