A Roman holiday… with snow and kids February 12, 2012 A LONG, long time ago, in a life far, far away, there was a young couple. Blissful, carefree, and most importantly childfree, they went on a romantic city break to Rome. They spent most of it in a bar, giggling at a sign: “Never mind the Trevi, come for a bevy”, and the rest of [...]
Wine merchant gives supermarkets run for money November 14, 2011 WHEN Majestic halved its minimum purchase from 12 bottles to six in September 2009, it transformed the business. Customers who had never shopped there before gave it a try; profits and sales have grown at double digit rates ever since. Until now. In the first six weeks of its second half, like-for-like sales dipped by [...]
Wine merchant gives supermarkets run for money November 14, 2011 WHEN Majestic halved its minimum purchase from 12 bottles to six in September 2009, it transformed the business. Customers who had never shopped there before gave it a try; profits and sales have grown at double digit rates ever since. Until now. In the first six weeks of its second half, like-for-like sales dipped by [...]
COMING SOON TO AN OLD PUB NEAR YOU… A BRAND NEW WAITROSE April 5, 2011 WAITROSE wants to grow – but Britain seems strangely bereft of suitable sites for the grocer, which is fighting a bitter convenience store war with its bigger rivals. So a desperate Waitrose has launched a highly unorthodox appeal to landlords to help it out. All sites and all properties will be considered, says the grocer [...]
Margaret Thatcher’s legacy is that no-one tries to scrap what the Iron Lady achieved January 5, 2012 THIS isn’t a review of The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher and on general release in cinemas this week [For this, see p. 18]. I’m sure it’s a fine film and I’ll see it once I can scrape together the money from my dwindling pension for a pair of tickets and some [...]
Margaret Thatcher’s legacy is that no-one tries to scrap what the Iron Lady achieved January 5, 2012 THIS isn’t a review of The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher and on general release in cinemas this week [For this, see p. 18]. I’m sure it’s a fine film and I’ll see it once I can scrape together the money from my dwindling pension for a pair of tickets and some [...]
Waitrose opens overseas February 13, 2011 WAITROSE is set to open one of five shops in the Channel Islands this week, in its first owner-operated venture outside the UK. The Thursday opening of its 21,000 square foot shop in St Saviour, Jersey, comes just a week after the retailer opened its first shop in Bahrain. However, unlike Bahrain, which is operated [...]
Waitrose opens overseas February 13, 2011 WAITROSE is set to open one of five shops in the Channel Islands this week, in its first owner-operated venture outside the UK. The Thursday opening of its 21,000 square foot shop in St Saviour, Jersey, comes just a week after the retailer opened its first shop in Bahrain. However, unlike Bahrain, which is operated [...]
Ocado sales growth slows in third quarter September 19, 2011 British online grocer Ocado saw a slowdown in sales growth in its fiscal third quarter and said full-year profit margins were likely to rise a less than expected as it invests in improving customer service. Ocado, which mostly sells the products of upmarket grocer Waitrose, said on Monday gross sales rose 16.9 per cent to [...]
Sainsbury’s to join price match battle October 9, 2011 SAINSBURY’S will turn up the heat this week in the price war between the UK’s leading supermarkets with a pledge to match thousands of prices at rivals Tesco and Asda. The supermarket announced yesterday that it will start its “brand match” campaign this Wednesday, just two weeks after Tesco launched a £500m “Big Price Drop” [...]