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…?

?S?strene Grene announces opening day for first central London store.

Danish homewares brand S?strene Grene has announced that its first central London store will open on 1 December.

The flagship shop on Tottenham Court Road will be hosting a festive-themed grand opening where the first 150 customers will receive a voucher for a free large, tufted rug and an exclusive canvas goodie bag filled with a selection of S?strene Grene products.

The opening forms part of S?strene Grene’s continued expansion throughout the UK. The new flagship location will be the retailer’s largest UK store and the first to feature the brand’s ‘experience room’ concept where customers can interact with changing seasonal displays.

Mikkel Grene, chief executive and co-owner of S?strene Grene, said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of our first central London store on Tottenham Court Road. This is a landmark opening for the business, and we couldn’t be more excited to be expanding the world of S?strene Grene across the UK.”

https://www.theretailbulletin.com/home-and-diy/sostrene-grene-announces-opening-day-for-first-central-london-store-09-11-2023/

?All Lidl store employees to wear body cameras by Spring 2024.

Lidl has announced it will introduce body cameras to be worn by staff members at all of its UK stores as standard.

This is to reinforce its commitment to ensuring the safety and security of both customers and colleagues.

From the end of November, Lidl stores will begin to receive the cameras after an investment of more than ï¿¡2 million.

The rollout is expected to be completed by Spring 2024.

The supermarket’s push to make sure all its UK stores (more than 960) are equipped with the cameras sets it apart from other retailers who are either still in the trial phase, have the technology in a select number of stores or only offer them as an option to colleagues, the company said.?

Training will be given to all?Lidl?colleagues to make sure the cameras are used safely and in a way that protects an individual’s privacy.

https://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/23911753.lidl-store-employees-wear-body-cameras-spring-2024/

?Supermarket chain axes almost all self-service tills after backlash from shoppers.

Booths said they would remove the machines following customer feedback.

A?supermarket?chain is axing nearly all its self-service tills, after receiving customer feedback that they were “unreliable” and “impersonal”.?

Booths, which operates 28 stores in northern?England, is believed to be the first?UK?supermarket to move away from using self-service tills,?which have increasingly replaced manned tills in recent years.?

All but two of their stores, which are based in?Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Cheshire, will remove their machines in favour of staff serving customers.

“We believe colleagues serving customers delivers a better customer experience and therefore we have taken the decision to remove self-checkouts in the majority of our stores,” the company said.

The chain, which describes itself as a northern Waitrose, added: “Delighting customers with our warm northern welcome is part of our DNA and we continue to invest in our people to ensure we remain true to that ethos.”

Self-checkouts will remain in two stores in the?Lake District?to meet customer demands during busy periods.?

Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, Booths managing director Nigel Murray, said: “Our customers have told us this over time, that the self-scan machines that we’ve got in our stores they can be slow, they can be unreliable, they’re obviously impersonal.

“We stock quite a lot of loose items - fruit and veg and bakery - and as soon as you go to a self-scan with those you’ve got to get a visual verification on them, and some customers don’t know one different apple versus another for example,” he added.

“There’s all sorts of fussing about with that and then the minute you put any alcohol in your basket somebody’s got to come and check that you’re of the right age.”

Self-service tills became popular in the 1990s and by 2021, there were 325,000 in operation across the UK.

However, they have been the subject of complaints with one petition calling on?Tesco?to “stop the replacement of people by machines”, gaining almost 250,000 signatures last year.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/booths-supermarket-self-service-till-backlash-b2445217.html

?The Range plunges to loss but expects ‘sustained growth’ from now on.

The Range’s plunged to a ￡11.7m loss as sales fell more than 10% in its last financial year.

Revenues still represented a 26% rise on its pre-pandemic levels, with a 17.3% jump in like-for-likes, in the year to January 2023.

Despite the profits drop, The Range said the year represented a return to a more stable period of trading, following heightened demand during the pandemic.

In its current year, sales are back in growth with like-for-like gross profit up over 4% and it expects profits to exceed pre-pandemic levels this year.

The Range CFO Jamie Messham said: “Sales vs pre-pandemic levels are very encouraging and reflective of a loyal and diverse customer base.”

“The business enters the last 3 months of the year, full of optimism and ready to deliver a strong Christmas offering in what is traditionally our busiest trading period of the year.”

However, Messham admitted that profitability in its last year was “disappointing” at?the value retailer.

Gross profit margin dipped from 33% to 31.9% in its largely driven by higher costs of goods purchased and associated freight costs, as well as more aggressive price discounting in-store and online.

It said challenges it faced after the pandemic, such as the significant amount of excess stock it was carrying, which incurred ongoing rent and demurrage charges, had ceased, and that The Range had now entered “a phase of sustained growth”.

The business has now right sized its stock holding, reducing it by 25% over the year, which has allowed operational efficiencies to return.

The Range chief executive Alex Simpkin said: “The FY 23 results are reflective of a period that ended 9 months ago and during which, significant operational challenges arose for many in the retail sector; primarily related to the fallout from Covid and the Ukrainian conflict.

“Since the period end, The Range has invested in constructing a new 1.2 million sq ft distribution centre in Stowmarket, with completion taking place on the 6th of November 2023.

“This will provide the business with a best-in-class facility to service its distribution and capacity requirements and meet its ambitious expansion plans.”

The Range?snapped up the Wilko brand in September and?relaunched Wilko.com in four weeks following the acquisition.

It has now introduced Wilko products into The Range stores and revealed earlier this month that it would open?three stand-alone Wilko stores ahead of Christmas.

Simpkin promised more Wilko store openings in 2024.

“This acquisition will further complement our existing multichannel offering as we strive to provide customers with high quality goods, at great value.”

The Range aims to open between 20 and 25 stores this year.

Simpkin added: “The group is in a strong position to deliver on its ambitious growth plans, and we head into our Christmas period with an exciting range that we know that our valued customers will love.”

https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2023/11/the-range-loss/

?Majestic Wine banks on bricks-and-mortar as it plots 50 more stores.

The boss of Majestic Wine has vowed to double down on Britain’s high streets as he revealed plans to open dozens of new stores.

John Colley, chief executive of Majestic, has said brick-and-mortar outlets will remain “sacrosanct” at the company while he is at the helm. ?

Over the past four years, Majestic has opened 15 new stores after it was bought by?US private equity firm Fortress.

However, Colley now wants to ramp up this expansion, targeting suburbs that have been largely sheltered from the cost-of-living crisis.

“I think we can open another 50 or so stores in the next four or five years, which is a significant investment,” he says.

Britain’s market towns, such as Henley and Marlow, are the focus of Majestic’s expansion, while the business also aims to roll out smaller stores as well as its better-known warehouse-style outlets.

“We’re an island of shopkeepers and we like the shopping experience,” Colley says.

Majestic has spent the past four years pursuing a turnaround designed to restore its reputation among the middle classes after it split from Naked Wines in 2019.

Ironically, Majestic’s expansion comes as Naked Wines faces a cash crunch due to a vast amount of spending during the pandemic.

Unlike Majestic, Naked Wines’ business model is built on online sales,?which have plummeted in recent years?and led to its shares falling by 70pc over the past year.

Colley said this proves digital retail isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be and shows how Majestic’s turnaround is bearing fruit after he was parachuted back in four years ago.

“It’s a bit ironic that we’re now growing and opening shops while that digital business is finding it a bit more challenging,” says Colley.

“[Majestic] has gone from?a company losing money, turning over circa ￡300m, to making more than ￡380m and investing significantly every year.”

Colley, a former director at Argos and B&Q, was tasked with turning Majestic around for the second time in his career after Fortress took control.

The 52-year-old first ran the retailer in 2015 when?it bought Naked in a ï¿¡70m reverse takeover.

However, he stepped down after just two years to spend more time with his children.

It was only once Fortress acquired the business that Colley was lured back.

He says: “I guess I’ve always been a big fan of Majestic and retail that has an experiential aspect to what it does. That’s why Majestic has been around since the 1980s. I think the Naked bit just confused all of that completely.”

Majestic was founded in 1980 by Sheldon Graner, a former John Lewis merchandiser, who identified a way around the UK’s tight restrictions on selling alcohol.

Rather than selling single bottles, Graner marketed cases of 12 from warehouse-style stores in London’s Harringay and Battersea, while also offering expert tastings – meaning Majestic was able to trade throughout the day.

This bulk-buying warehouse approach, combined with wine tastings, helped the business thrive among the middle classes, fuelling its expansion to more than 200 stores over the next two decades.

It also opened two stores in Calais which became a famous draw for ‘booze cruises’ – where shoppers flocked across the channel to take advantage of lower prices in France.

However, by 2015, the company was struggling amid fierce competition from supermarkets, which offered steep discounts to regain market share.

This led to Majestic buying Naked for ï¿¡70m eight years ago as the pair sought to combine physical and online retail.

Yet, despite combining resources, the new venture failed to achieve the desired success and led to a split after just four years.

When asked about the failure, Colley says it was driven by long-standing customers falling by the wayside as the business went digital.

“[Naked] very much saw online being the future because it was a digital business. And I was like ‘That’s not Majestic’,” says Colley.?

“I think they genuinely were trying to make it make more money but to do that you’ve got to be very clear about what the business is.”

Colley insists his turnaround plan does not involve rowing back on digital retailing, but he says in-store expansion will be his priority.

Another move taken by Colley of late has been to ramp up a ‘white glove’ delivery service for customers, which is done through their Majestic vans rather than third-party couriers.

He says: “You can’t do glass hire with a courier, they won’t do it. You can’t rent an ice bucket with ice through a courier, and you can’t bring the wine back after your party – if you’ve got a few left, we take it back.”

Majestic has also hired Rob Cooke, Tesco’s former head of beers, wines and spirits as chief operating officer, in a bid to fight back against supermarkets.

He has been tasked with seeking out high-end wines that customers can find in Majestic rather than at local retailers.

As for whether his investment plans will be scuppered by younger people giving up alcohol, Colley remains confident.

“When I started at Majestic in 2015, people would say to me ‘You’re going to run out of customers’,” he says. “Well, we haven’t. We’ve got more customers now than we’ve ever had.”

Yet, despite his optimism, Colley is urging the Government to do more to help the nation’s high streets.

“I know so many retail leaders that have left this country to work in places like the Middle East and Australia because it’s easier there,” he says. “They don’t operate at the level we are operating at.

“I’m sad to say this but you look at some high streets across the country and there’s empty units – I think that’s a challenge for the Government. They are not making it easy for retailers to invest in business.”

And while Majestic’s customers have been less affected by the cost of living crisis, he says they are not immune to current economic pressures.

“People are being more price sensitive,” he says. “We’re not seeing a specific down trade, but somebody might be buying one less bottle. That is very similar to the trends that we saw back in 2008 in the financial crisis.”

Life has not been made easier by the Government’s new alcohol tax, he adds, which has forced Majestic to raise prices in its stores.

“We all know that when you go to a restaurant, you order some wine,” he says. “When you get married, you order some wine.

“It is the UK’s most popular alcoholic beverage, so why would you put the tax up at a level that is going to be prohibitive to some businesses?”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/11/12/majestic-wine-chief-john-colley-open-more-stores/? (Subscription required)

?UK retail theft to cost ï¿¡7.9bn.

New research shows that UK retailers are under growing pressure from theft - across stores and distribution centres - due to the ongoing cost of living crisis and reliance on temporary staff.

The research, conducted by security technology firm Thruvision and independent research consultancy Retail Economics, forecasts the value of retail theft will be ï¿¡7.9bn in 2023.

Shoppers account for the majority of the value of theft at 60% (ï¿¡4.7bn), while employees working in distribution centres (DCs) and stores account for 40% (ï¿¡3.2bn). The report claims that theft in DCs is a current hot spot for employee crime, with some 42.6% of total employee theft being from DCs.

Among a survey of 100 managers and directors responsible for loss prevention at large UK retailers, a net balance of a fifth (20.9%) has seen an increase in employee theft over the past year.

Two-thirds of respondents believe financial pressure as a result of the cost-of-living crisis has driven an increase in theft by employees at DCs over the past year to some degree.

A quarter (26.4%) believe the type of products being stolen in DCs has changed over the past year, shifting towards smaller items and valuable electrical products that are easy to resell. Additionally, there has been a shift towards essentials such as groceries and clothes, as the recent economic backdrop, high inflation and rising interest rates contributes to growing crime.

But there are also structural shifts in the labour market impacting crime, with half (50.9%) of retailers considering a reliance on temporary staff as a key driver of theft. Retailers grappling with current vacancies rely on a transient workforce. Although minimum wages have increased in recent years, there is perception of declining job satisfaction as the intensity of work changes and greater sickness in the labour force impacts full-time work.

Among retailers that have seen an increase in employee theft over the past year, 70% state they have seen an increase in organised crime in DCs, exploiting the labour shifts, which leaves retailers more exposed to widespread theft at scale.

Colin Evans, CEO of Thruvision, says: “That employee theft is a rapidly growing problem is not a surprise, but the scale of financial losses suffered by UK retailers in their distribution centres really is. What is even more surprising is that so few retailers seem to be prepared to deal with this very serious problem when proven technology solutions exist."

Richard Lim, CEO of Retail Economics, says: “Retail crime adds to a backdrop of rising operating costs that have squeezed profitability in recent years. A startling 40% of theft stems from a minority of retail employees. The nature of theft becoming more organised demands a widespread and holistic approach, incorporating deterrence, detection, and industry-wide collaboration.

“Proactive measures not only curb the impact of theft but also cultivate a safer environment, attracting talent and fortifying the industry. Striking a balance between fairness among honest employees and deterrence is now pivotal as structural shifts leave retailers vulnerable to disconnected workforce and supply chain complexity.”

https://www.drapersonline.com/news/uk-retail-theft-to-cost-7-9bn

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