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…?
?Wickes acquires four former Homebase stores.
Wickes has acquired four former Homebase stores following the DIY retailer’s collapse into administration last year.
The retailer has taken over the leases of stores in?Dunfermline,?Bury St Edmunds, and?Leeds Moor Allerton, which are set to open later this year under the Wickes brand. They join a former Homebase store in?Northampton?acquired by Wickes last July which is currently undergoing refurbishment.
Wickes said the acquisitions will enable it to continue with its store opening programme whilst also entering catchment areas where it does not currently have a presence.
Wickes chief executive David Wood said: “We are delighted to be acquiring these former Homebase stores and welcoming all colleagues currently working there into the Wickes family.
“The acquisition of these four stores is a further boost to our ambitious store opening programme as we look to grow the Wickes brand, helping even more customers with their home improvement projects so they can feel house proud.”
Wickes joins fellow home improvement brands in taking over former Homebase stores, such as B&Q which has acquired eight stores across the UK and Ireland.
Homebase’s new owner CDS Superstores – which owns The Range and Wilko –?has agreed to take on up to 70 of its stores, which it is currently rebranding.
?Sports Direct launches membership programme. Sports Direct has rolled out a new benefit-based membership programme nationwide in what owner Frasers Group described as a “crucial step in [our] ongoing digital elevation”.
The scheme, which was first trialled earlier this month, after the retail giant teased the launch last year, rewards members with personalised offers and exclusive benefits.
Frasers said the programme offers shoppers more deals and greater value the more they shop and hopes to “further strengthen the relationship with Sports Direct customers”.
It hopes the scheme will contribute towards a “seamless” omnichannel experience as benefits will be available in Sports Direct stores and online.
The?loyalty programme?will work with “valued brands” both under the group’s ownership and external brand partners, such as Everlast, to offer benefits and access including exclusive discounts, member events and monthly prize draws.
Brand benefits include?free access to the Everlast Gyms fitness app and discounted Everlast Gyms membership.
It will also offer personalised shopping recommendations based on previous purchase history, real-time alerts and an “easy-to-use” members pass which is available via the Sports Direct app or website.
Frasers Group chief executive Michael Murray said: “Sports Direct Membership marks the next step in the digital transformation and elevation of our retail business, with the aim of delivering a truly seamless omnichannel shopping experience.
“This will allow us to understand our customers even better, and in turn, they will benefit from unique, personalised offers from their favourite leading sports brands and derive more value when they shop at Sports Direct.
“Our ambition is to extend these rewards to all our customers, rolling out similar membership programmes across our other fascia’s, including Flannels and Frasers, in future.”
?M&S Launches AI wine finder to help customers pick the perfect bottle.
Marks & Spencer has launched an AI-powered Wine Finder to help customers navigate its extensive wine selection and discover bottles tailored to their taste.
The tool, developed in partnership with AI tech company Preferabli, is available online across more than 500 stores and in-store at 20 M&S Foodhalls.
With nearly a quarter of shoppers spending more than 10 minutes deliberating in the wine aisle, M&S is trialling the technology to simplify the decision-making process. The Wine Finder asks customers a few quick questions about their preferences before making personalised recommendations based on what’s available in their chosen store.
The tool integrates with the M&S Food digital catalogue, which provides real-time stock updates across its stores, helping customers plan their shopping lists more efficiently.
Caroline Thompson-Hill, Head of Beers, Wine and Spirits at M&S Food, said:?“We know wine can be a difficult category to shop, and it’s important that we find new ways to support our customers when shopping our incredible range in-store. By utilising AI, the Wine Finder tool helps encourage customers to try different regions, grapes, and bottles they’ve not considered before.”
This marks the first time Preferabli’s AI technology has been used by a UK grocery retailer, with the system using a proprietary database developed by Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers to provide highly tailored recommendations.
M&S continues to explore how technology can enhance the shopping experience, using AI-driven tools to improve convenience and help customers make more confident purchasing decisions.
The M&S Wine Finder is available to?try now in select stores and online.
?Frasers Group to open 50 stores in the Gulf region and Egypt with major strategic partnership.
Mike Ashley's Frasers Group, the retail giant behind Sports Direct and House of Fraser, is set to open 50 stores in the Gulf region and Egypt after signing a major strategic partnership.?
The listed company has agreed a ten-year deal with GMG, a global retailer, distributor and manufacturer of international and home-grown brands across sport, lifestyle, and health and beauty.?
GMG has a strong presence in the Gulf, North Africa and Southeast Asia, where it is a key distributor and operator of Nike stores, as well as its home-grown multi-brand sports retailer, Sun & Sand Sports, among others.?
The new partnership will facilitate Frasers Group's expansion in the Gulf and Egypt, with its retail expansion plan, targeting 50 new Sports Direct store openings across the Gulf and Egypt over the next five years. The first year of the partnership will see the introduction of five new stores in the region.
Michael Murray, chief executive of Frasers Group, said: "GMG is an unrivalled retailer in the region, operating and distributing an incredible portfolio of global brands in markets where we see real growth potential, particularly in sports and lifestyle.?
"By leveraging GMG's scale, deep retail expertise and market knowledge, our partnership will support the growth of our Sports Direct brand in the Gulf and in Egypt."
Mohammad A. Baker, deputy chairman and chief executive of GMG, added: "Our collaboration with Frasers Group represents not just a key milestone but a strategic expansion that underscores our commitment to redefine the sports arena across all markets in which we operate in.?
"By introducing Sports Direct, a flagship brand in the industry, we are further positioning ourselves as a dominant force within the retail sports industry.?
"At GMG, with over four decades of experience, we are committed to use our expertise in providing the best choices for quality products. We are uniquely positioned to integrate and scale Sports Direct's presence successfully, bringing it closer to our consumers and crafting unparalleled sports retail experiences."
?WH Smith's name WILL disappear from the High Street as whoever buys troubled retail giant's 500 up-for-sale stores will have to change their branding.
WH Smith's name will disappear from British high streets after more than 230 years of trading as the retailer plans to sell the chain - without rights to its name.?
It was revealed in January that the company had been in talks for weeks to sell its struggling high street stores so it could focus on its more lucrative travel arm - the shops in train stations and airports.?
But as chief executive Carl Cowling looks to pawn off the 500 high street branches of the stationer - with nearly 200 of them home to post offices - he is understood to think it is not practical to have two separate businesses with the same name.?
The sale would likely see the WH Smith name disappear from the British high street where it has been a constant for 233 years, since the first shop opened in central?London?in 1792. The first offers from buyers were made last week.?
Investment firms Alteri and Modella Capital, which specialise in buying and reworking struggling retailers, have expressed interest in the sale, which would see the high street stores trade under a different name, as reported by the?Times.??
Canadian tycoon Doug Putman, who saved music store HMV, and Hilco, which previously owned Homebase, have also shown interest as buyers.?
Potential buyers in the auction run by Greenhill investment bank will be set a timeframe in which they would need to give up the shops' iconic name.?
In the past ten years, the business' high street sales have fallen from ￡684million to ￡452million. The travel arm of the firm - which consists of around 1,200 stores worldwide - generates 85 per cent of its profits.?
And with each of the high street stores having on average a mere two-year lease, there are concerns that a new owner could quickly shut any stores that are not hitting targets.?
Retail expert Richard Hyman, of Aria Intelligent Solutions consultancy, said the chain offers a lot of different products and without a legendary brand name to unify that offering, it could be hard for a new owner to give the high street stores a strong brand identity.?
The new owner will also have to battle increases to minimum wage and employers' national insurance contributions, announced in the Budget last year - which will see the stationer's costs rise by a whopping ￡20million.?
Concerns that the retailer is trying to distance itself from the sale and questions about whether its remaining stores are safe have been raised after this latest move.?
Though there is an outside chance the new owner could strike a deal to keep the name, it is unlikely, it is understood.?
A source close to WH Smith said the chain was attractive to buyers because of its strength in multiple kinds of product and its identity as a kind of hub on British high streets.?
The retailer is said to have a total market value of almost ￡1.5billion currently.?
Profits from stores in stations, airport and hospitals around the world increased by 15 per cent to ￡189million for the year ending August 31, with a fifth of this growth coming from UK stores.?
In the UK, 14 new travel shops have opened in the last financial year - and between three and eight are due to open in the coming year.?
WH Smith started as a news vendor, with its first store opened by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna in London's Little Grosvenor Street, near Bond Street.?
The company's first travel store opened in London's Euston station in 1848.??
also owning bookshop Waterstones and music store Our Price at one stage and seeing its glory days in the seventies and eighties.?
But as the high street struggles and customers turn to supermarkets, discount stores and online shopping, WH Smith has experienced difficulties with keeping business booming.?
The firm reacted by cutting back investment in its high street stores.?
GlobalData retail research director Patrick O'Brien said this had affected the brand's health - but that the nation was still very fond of it.?
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