Britain 2030: Writing off the high street is unambitious; its future is bespoke, local and community-driven August 20, 2021 After years of decline, the Covid-19 pandemic further hammered the high street, leading to boarded up shops and mass job losses, and some to declare the high street “dead”. But writing off the high street could prove to be unambitious, as, with the help of local government and private stakeholders, the post-pandemic high street could [...]
Boohoo chief summoned to US court to explain ‘fake’ sales promotions claim July 31, 2021 The head of online fashion retailer Boohoo has been summoned to give evidence in a US court over allegations that the company promoted fake sales to attract customers. Mahmud Kamani will give evidence to a Los Angeles court remotely on or before 15 August in a four-hour deposition. Boohoo is accused of tricking customers into [...]
DaBaby’s Boohoo deal in doubt after rapper’s homophobic rant at concert leads to backlash July 27, 2021 FTSE-listed online fashion giant Boohoo has today swiftly condemned an onstage rant by one of it’s fashion line colab partners, DaBaby, as it mulls ditching the rapper from its stable of stars that hawk its clothing lines. DaBaby, a US rapper who features on the Due Lipa US top 10 hit Levitating, has a fashion [...]
Meet Shein: The secretive Chinese fast-fashion firm taking over online retail July 27, 2021 Taking the Tube at the minute can still, at times, feel like time travel. Around you are slightly tattered posters for theatre productions that haven’t been on stage for more than a year; ads for movies touted for cinema release that ended up quietly released to Netflix with little fanfare. Amongst these relics of a [...]
Boohoo to bolster Debenhams stores and e-commerce sites in the Middle East July 14, 2021 Boohoo, which bought Debenhams for £55m, has partnered with the Alshaya group to bolster the ex-high street staple’s presence in the Middle East. Kuwait-based Alshaya, which currently run Debenhams stores in shopping malls, will have exclusive rights to operate the Debenhams stores and local e-commerce sites in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman and [...]
Philip Green’s wife Tina paid £50m by Topshop administrators July 7, 2021 Tina Green, the wife of former retail tycoon Philip Green, received £50m in May from Topshop’s administration. The £50m was lent to Topshop as part of an emergency restructuring in 2019 and secured against a warehouse in Northamptonshire. In the wake of the collapse of parent company Arcadia, the space was sold for £83m, the [...]
Second-hand market ripens as China’s $3bn platform plots US IPO July 5, 2021 Tencent-backed online second-hand marketplace Beijing Zhuanzhuan Spirit Technology (BZST) is plotting a $400m funding round ahead of an initial public offering, according to reports. BZST, currently valued at $3bn, is trying to gauge interest from private equity and strategic investors, Bloomberg first reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The second-hand retailer is eyeing a [...]
Investors should have a duty to investigate links to modern slavery June 25, 2021 While slavery might sound like an egregious crime of the past it is still commonplace in modern society. It is a crime that exploits and dehumanises individuals and sees them as property to be bought, sold or traded. While it is prevalent, it is not public, and across the world acts of modern slavery take [...]
Boohoo’s Carol Kane staves off investor revolt at AGM to win overwhelming shareholder backing June 18, 2021 Boohoo co-founder Carol Kane has avoided a feared investor revolt to oust her as a director today, instead winning overwhelming shareholder support. Some 88 per cent of Boohoo shareholders voted in favour of Kane continuing in her role as an executive director at the company at today’s general meeting. Prior to the AGM, there were [...]
Debenhams could return to the high street to land beauty deals for Boohoo June 16, 2021 Boohoo is reportedly in talks about opening a Debenhams store to land deals with beauty and cosmetic brands that want to operate with a physical presence. Boohoo chief executive John Lyttle told The Times that if the talks came to fruition one small Debenhams store would return to a high street just outside of London. [...]