MULBERRY AIMS TO BE BIG IN JAPAN WITH A RAFT OF NEW OPENINGS October 4, 2011 MULBERRY has clinched a distribution deal that will see its products sold in Japanese department stores and flagship shops opened in Tokyo and Osaka. The company said yesterday it had agreed a deal with a joint venture owned by Club 21 and Mammina, a unit of Japanese department store chain Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings. The 10-year [...]
Business world wins praise in the honours list June 17, 2012 CARPHONE Warehouse founder Charles Dunstone was the sole business leader awarded a knighthood in the Queen’s birthday honours for 2012, announced over the weekend, in a year that saw industry and economic leaders garner just 12 per cent of accolades, down more than a full percentage point from 2011. However, Sir John Parker, chairman of [...]
Accessorise your summer look with some choice pieces June 6, 2012 WOMEN Eeugenia Kim Abby belt-trimmed straw sunhat, £230, netaporter.com Gleaming gold, this straw hat is just the right amount distressed, making for a beach-ready but oh-so-chic summer look. Top Shop Geo Triangle Collar, £15, topshop.com Elegant and easy, this collar necklace looks too classy to be cheap and cheerful, despite the price tag. The triangles [...]
Another firm looks to Asia for growth March 14, 2012 IT’S an increasingly familiar story. A UK firm, starved of revenue at home, looks east to expand, hoping the growing middle classes in India and China will pick up where the British “squeezed middle” have dropped out. French Connection’s position at the more expensive end of the high street means it may be able to [...]
COMMENT ZOE STRIMPEL December 8, 2011 PICK the right It Girl and you’re in clover. For Mulberry, it was the Alexa satchel designed in honour of the style icon and TV presenter Alex Chung that hurled the company into the luxury retail stratosphere – profits quadrupled in 2010 thanks to that willowy fashionista. But it’s not just the Alexa Effect (yes, [...]
…but global boom gives Mulberry lift June 16, 2011 LUXURY handbag-maker Mulberry said it expected overseas sales to overtake those in the UK within two years yesterday, as it beat forecasts with a 358 per cent leap in pre-tax profit. Revenues from sales of its sought-after handbags and purses jumped 69 per cent to £121.6m in the past year, while profits rose to £23.3m [...]
Analysts call for a flight to quality in 2012 stock picks January 2, 2012 EUROPEAN equities look cheap but investors should tread cautiously in 2012, paying premium prices to target high-quality stocks, analysts have said. The market sell-off in the second half of 2011 left many shares undervalued, but investors should target solid companies with a good dividend yield as the market uncertainty and volatility is expected to continue. [...]
Mulberry is still small in Asia – the luxury sector’s gold rush town June 16, 2011 IT is rare for a company to perform quite so spectacularly on almost every count. Group revenue was up almost 70 per cent; pre-tax profit was up an unbelievable 358 per cent; the gross margin jumped 640 basis points to 65.4 per cent. Its cash pile is almost twice the size at £21.4m. We could [...]
Bag it up baby: luxe goes practical October 10, 2011 NOTHING makes a female mouth water quite like a beautiful bag. And, as the City fashionista will know, practicality must merge with style for maximum wearability – after all, what’s the point in having a beautiful tote if you can’t show it off? With fashions changing like gusts of wind, it’s important to choose a [...]
DOWNTON LORD LANDS IN THE LAP OF LUXURY November 14, 2011 HE SURVIVED the Great War and Spanish flu and yesterday Lord Grantham – aka the actor Hugh Bonneville – made his first public appearance since the end of series two of Downton Abbey to present the Walpole awards for excellence. No austerity measures at the luxury body’s annual gathering, held in association with Coutts – [...]