John Lewis raises sales forecast May 16, 2012 John Lewis, Britain’s biggest department store group, has raised its sales guidance after outperforming a flat retail market in its first quarter and believes the economy is on course for a slow recovery, despite a recent dip back into recession. “My gut feel is a long, slow, steady recovery that at certain points will look [...]
Christmas countdown for rival high street retailers December 4, 2012 AS we move into the final countdown to Christmas, our high street department stores are pulling out all the stops. Looking back over 2012, the race between Marks & Spencer and John Lewis has never been tighter. YouGov’s BrandIndex highlights how the two brands began the year with six points separating their Index scores – [...]
US radicals have dealt a serious blow to the struggle for small government October 17, 2013 A SCENE from Steven Spielberg’s film Lincoln came to me while watching the US Republican surrender over the debt ceiling crisis. President Abraham Lincoln’s advice to Thaddeus Stevens, a leading opponent of slavery, is almost unmatchable as a universal dialogue between the world’s radicals and the men and women who hope to get things done [...]
House of Fraser Basks in bumper Christmas January 7, 2013 HOUSE OF FRASER has become the latest retailer to boast of a bumper Christmas, with like-for-like sales up 6.3 per cent in the period. Following hot on the heels of rival John Lewis, the department store group said in a trading statement yesterday that its stores performed well while online sales rose a record 48 [...]
After clothing sales slumped at M&S, can the traditional high street retailer survive? January 10, 2013 YES Neil Saunders Retail can be seen as a game of two halves. Last year, spending through physical outlets grew by 0.2 per cent, whereas online retail spending grew by 13 per cent. But while the growth of online has put pressure on physical retailing, the situation is not all doom and gloom. Firstly, the [...]
Omnicom acquires ad agency behind John Lewis campaign May 24, 2012 ADAM & Eve, the communications agency behind the much-loved John Lewis adverts, was yesterday bought by DDB, a subsidiary of Omnicom. The £60m deal will see the company’s four founding partners – Jon Forsyth, Ben Priest, James Murphy and David Golding – assume senior roles at Adam & Eve / DDB. The five year old firm has risen [...]
Little Christmas cheer for retail January 14, 2013 Chief Market Strategist, Cantor Index THE official retail activity figures, which are posted monthly or at specific times like Christmas, are accurate but often indecipherable to the layman. The small print is where the message is. And the most recent figures suggest that Christmas was great for some, but brutal for others. The situation was [...]
JOHN LEWIS CHAIRMAN BAGS £1M May 2, 2012 CHARLIE Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, took home a total salary of £954,000 last year. Mayfield’s base salary was £825,000, with additional payments including a partnership bonus of £115,000 – equal to the 14 per cent bonus awarded across the group. The firm said Mayfield’s salary was 60 times the average basic salary [...]
‘Tis the season November 29, 2012 ROASTED CHESTNUT DELUXE CANDLE Jo Malone, £80 www.jomalone.co.uk CRANBERRY WREATH Selfridges, £69.95 www.selfridges.com VINTAGE ROSE NAPKIN RINGS (SET OF 4) Walton & Co, £12 www.selfridges.com CHRISTMAS CARD HOLDER Selfridges, £34.95 www.selfridges.com SNOWFLAKE FELT COASTERS (SET OF 4) John Lewis, £15 www.johnlewis.com TARTAN CHRISTMAS STOCKING Gisela Graham, £15.95 www.selfridges.com LARGE TABLE RUNNER Walton & Co, £32 [...]
Tesco fightback steadies giant’s market share January 29, 2013 TESCO maintained its market share and matched market growth for the first time since June 2011, according to the latest grocery share data from Kantar Worldpanel. The UK’s biggest supermarket grew sales year-on-year by 3.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to 20 January, giving it a market share of 30.4 per cent, as its [...]