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…?
Lidl sets sights on “hundreds” of new UK store openings.
Lidl has announced plans to open “hundreds” of new UK stores and create thousands of jobs as it looks to reach more households across the country.
Over the next few months, the supermarket will welcome shoppers to new shops in places like Bristol, Birmingham, and Berwick, as well as London’s Wandsworth, Fulham, Hoxton and Canning Town.
Lidl has also published a list of desired locations for new sites as it looks to grow its presence in cities such as Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, and towns ranging from Woking and Wadebridge to Dumfries and Didcot.
The news follows a year of significant infrastructure investment by Lidl which has included the opening of its largest global warehouse in Luton and the completion of an extension to its Welsh distribution centre in Bridgend.
This year marks 30 years since the opening of Lidl’s first store in the UK.
Richard Taylor, Lidl GB chief development officer, said: “As we celebrate our 30th?year, our commitment to ensuring that all households across the country have access to high quality produce at affordable prices is stronger than ever.
“We’re planning to open hundreds of new Lidl stores but ultimately see no ceiling on our ambition or growth potential. This is why we’re continuing to invest in new locations whilst exploring innovative routes to expansion.
“As we look ahead, we’re excited to welcome even more new shoppers to our existing stores, as well as those we’re planning to open across the country in the coming months and years.”
The supermarket will pay a finders’ fee of either 1.5% of the total freehold purchase price, or 10% of the first year’s rent for leaseholds if a site is successfully identified.
WHSmith rolls out Toys R Us concessions to more stores.
WHSmith is to expand its Toys R Us shop-in-shops to 30 more stores by the end of its financial year in August.
The rollout follows the opening of nine Toys R Us concessions last year, which WHSmith said had performed well, according to?Retail Week.
The exact locations of the new shop-in-shops has not yet been disclosed.?
The first Toys R Us concession?opened in June last year at WHSmith’s Monks Cross Retail Park store?in York and marked the toy retailer’s return?to the high street after a five year absence following its administration.
The concessions stock a wide range of popular toy brands including Barbie, Fisher Price, Lego, Marvel, and Peppa Pig.
WHSmith unveiled this morning that its?first half profits had edged up by ￡1m to ￡46m.?However, earnings from its high street arm dipped from ￡24m to ￡22m.
The Toys R Us expansion fits into the general merchandise retailer’s strategy of maximising the returns from store space.
Shoplifting hits highest level in 20 years across England and Wales.
Shoplifting in England and Wales in 2023 reached the highest level since records began in 2003, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
More than 430,000?offences?were recorded last year – up by 37% in the year ending 31 December 2023, compared to in 2022, the latest Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) published shows.
This is the highest figure since current police recording practices began for the year ending March 2003, the?ONS?said.
The home secretary James Cleverly said this rise in shoplifting and the police’s categorisation of it as a “sub-threshold crime” has a had “corrosive effect” on people’s confidence in the police.
He added: “There is no such thing as a sub-threshold crime. Crime is crime – it’s black and white. Criminal activity should be policed. Crimes that people see have a corrosive effect on their confidence, and a lack of confidence to be able to live your full life is really important.
“When people see videos of shops being robbed, that has a corrosive effect – so we have to deal with it, which is why we’ve made it absolutely clear they [police] will pursue every reasonable line of inquiry.”
Julian Hayes, criminal defence lawyer and partner at Berris Law LLP: “The release of the recent?shoplifting/theft crime figures simply demonstrate that the years of austerity and cuts in policing have meant that the investigation of these so-called minor offences have long since been neglected and ignored.
“The police cannot be blamed for this as they, much like the rest of the criminal justice system are on their knees. The cost to the?high?street is immeasurable and causing shops and businesses to close or restrict access to customers, not to mention the horrendous risks that members of staff have to take when challenging shoplifters.
Hayes called for a “root and branch review” of the criminal justice system and for more money to be invested in crime prevention.
Decathlon expands buy-back scheme for sports gear to promote circular economy.
Decathlon, the global sports retailer, has expanded its buy-back scheme to allow customers to swap out and repair old sporting equipment while earning store vouchers, in a bid to promote responsible consumption and provide circular economy for all its products.
The initiative,?initially launched for own-brand bicycles at the end of last year, will now include more sports categories such as fitness equipment, racket sports, water sports gear and camping equipment.
Customers can complete a quick online assessment to register their return and receive an immediate quote. They can then drop off their product at a Decathlon store to receive vouchers valued at up to 40% of the item’s worth.
Decathlon will refurbish and resell the products. Additionally, customers can get their sports kits repaired at Decathlon stores using genuine parts from an extensive inventory.
领英推荐
The sports retailer estimates that 800,000 products will be bought-back, resold or revived through the service, with more than 1,000 bicycles reported to have been upcycled since the service rolled out in the UK last year.
Research conducted by the retailer found that almost a third of British homes have unused sporting equipment, including popular items like bicycles, weights, gym equipment, footballs, tennis rackets and golf clubs.
Decathlon UK’s sustainability leader Chris Allen said: “At Decathlon we’re all about driving participation in sport and we want to encourage this in the most sustainable way possible.
“Buy-back allows people to realise value from older or unused kit and exchange it for new or refurbished products.”
The announcement aligns with upcoming major sports events such as the Olympics, Euros and Wimbledon, anticipated in the coming months. Decathlon’s research also indicates that 28% of individuals intend to adopt a new sport this year to participate in the surrounding events.
Decathlon’s buy-back service will provide customers with an accessible opportunity to explore various sports at a fraction of the typical expenses, while mitigating waste generation.
This initiative aligns with Decathlon’s broader sustainability efforts, including the launch of its Rentals initiative last year, allowing customers to rent sporting gear for ￡10 a day.
Looking ahead, the company aims to leverage its global network of workshops, offer buyback options for more than 100 types of sports products, and expand its rental solutions across various regions.
B&Q launches energy saving hubs with the GMCA to boost energy efficiency.
B&Q, the home improvement retailer, has launched two in-store Energy Saving Hubs in collaboration with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).
The hubs, located at B&Q’s Trafford Park and Cheetham Hill stores, will provide in-person support for customers looking to make their homes more energy-efficient.
The hubs are located in store so that customers can access them easily through walk-in or pre-booked appointments, and aim to encourage more people to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.? Specially trained B&Q colleagues will be on hand to undertake a free home energy assessment and to provide advice and tips about how to make homes more energy efficient, from adding loft insulation to powering your home with solar energy. Customers can also get help with grant applications.
The Energy Saving Hubs, which will be in-store until March 2025, are open daily, and advisors are on hand for walk-in and pre-booked appointments from 11am – 5pm.
Paul Carroll, Head of Services Development at B&Q,?said: “We’re really pleased to be working with the GMCA on these Energy Saving Hubs. Spring and summer is the best time to start planning for the colder winter months, and we want to ensure all our customers have access to the advice they need to help keep their home energy use as low as possible. With the provision of in-person advice, in addition to our online and over the phone guidance, we hope to reach Greater Manchester residents who otherwise wouldn’t receive support on energy saving.”
In addition to the in-store hubs, B&Q’s over the phone Energy Saving Service, backed by the Energy Saving Trust and available nationwide, offers personalised guidance?making it easier to know exactly which products people need for their home and how to get work completed, to save energy.??Using available data, such as a home’s age, construction, and EPC rating, B&Qs Energy Saving Advisors gather further information about the home’s current energy usage from the customer over the phone, to help identify how their home’s energy bills and carbon emissions could be reduced.
B&Q also offers a wide range of great value, energy-saving products in store and for order for home delivery or for click and collect at?diy.com. Customers can also access B&Q’s partners for specialist installations, such as solar power and insulation.
The Energy Saving Hub initiative is part of GMCA’s?Feel the Benefit?campaign, funded by a ￡1.94 m grant from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) and the North West Net Zero Hub (NWNZH). The project aims to make energy-saving advice clearer and more accessible, raising awareness of the service and helping Greater Manchester residents understand the support and funding available to them.
B&Q is committed to saving energy in its operations as part of the Build a Life project, aiming to make the world a better place for our customers, colleagues, and communities.
M&S calls on the nation to give their pre-loved clothing a second life with trial of free postal donation service.
Marks & Spencer, the UK’s largest clothing retailer is – for the first time – asking the public to donate their unwearable clothing, alongside their wearable clothing, through the trial of a free postal donation service, in partnership with Oxfam.
It is estimated that UK homes contain 1.6 billion items of unworn clothing which have the potential to be used, re-used or recycled*. However new research conducted on behalf of M&S**, found that one third of the UK doesn’t know what to do with clothes that cannot be re-worn – with three in 10 consumers admitting to disposing of unwearable clothes in their household waste bin.
To help tackle the problem, from today, consumers will be able to recycle their preloved clothing from the comfort of their own home by ordering a pre-paid postal donation bag from the Oxfam website. The bag, which is made from 100% recycled plastic, allows for preloved clothing to be separated into two groups - those that are good quality and wearable and those that are unwearable - but equally too good to waste - and return them for free via a local courier where they will then go directly to Oxfam to be resold, reused, or recycled.
Closet confusion
New research conducted for M&S found that one in five consumers admit they are confused by what is meant by ‘wearable’ and ‘unwearable’ clothing. WRAP, the climate action NGO, define wearable clothing as clean, dry, in good condition and ready to be worn by someone else. While unwearable clothing is damaged in some way – for instance torn, stained, faded, or stretched. Clothes which are soiled or contaminated are not recyclable and customers are asked not to include these items. To help consumers navigate what preloved clothing can be donated, M&S has worked with Oxfam to create a simple ‘how-to’ guide, which will be enclosed in the pre-paid donation bag.
M&S has been leading the way with new and exciting products and services since its inception 140 years ago and continues to innovate while never compromising on quality or sourcing and production standards. Through the trial, which is funded through M&S’ Plan A Accelerator Fund, M&S wants to find new ways to reduce textile waste and increase the use of recycled fibres to drive the circular economy – a key part of the retailer’s Plan A sustainability plan.
Katharine Beacham, Head of Materials, Sustainability and Packaging at M&S, commented:?“At M&S, we’re focused on making good quality, durable products which are made to last. In 2008, we launched Shwopping to support customers to give a second home to their preloved clothing, and we’re now expanding our partnership with Oxfam to trial a free postal service which enables customers to clear out their pre-loved clothing that they no longer need. Whether it is wearable or unwearable - we want it all!”
Lorna Fallon, Trading Director at Oxfam, commented:?“We are so excited to be working with M&S as part of this brand-new trial. As well as continuing to encourage customers to donate their preloved, wearable clothing to Oxfam and help raise vital funds to tackle poverty around the world, this trial allows us to give unwearable clothes a second chance of life too. By recirculating our clothes, buying, and wearing second hand, we can help to reduce the demand for new clothes, which could in turn help to reduce the damage to our planet. So, by learning more about the potential of all our clothes and textiles, we can help improve the lifecycle of all of our clothing for the better.”
The trial forms part of the ‘ACT Project’ which is being led by the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT). The UKFT is working to develop a new framework towards a UK-based automated-sorting and pre-processing facility (ATSP) that will recycle clothing unsuitable for re-sale to make new clothing which can be sold in the UK to create a completely circular system.
Adam Mansell, CEO at UKFT, commented: “We’re delighted to be working with Marks & Spencer and Oxfam to give old clothing a second chance at life. We need to ACT now to tackle the staggering amount of textile waste that ends up in landfill or incinerated each year. Through this trial, we’re aiming to encourage people to separate their items so that in future, worn-out clothing can make its way to an automated sorting facility and then be recycled into new textiles and garments here in the UK.”
Consumers can use the service to donate any item of preloved clothing from any retailer, as well as soft furnishings textile waste such as bed linen, towels, cushions, tablecloths, and tea towels. M&S’ in-store Shwopping scheme continues to be for wearable, hand-me-down quality clothing only.
?
?
?
?