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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Clipper, the specialist in retail and high-value logistics which lists John Lewis among its customers, says it has received a preliminary takeover approach from private equity group Sun European Partners.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Home improvement retailer B&Q said sales in the U.K. and Ireland dropped in the third quarter because of new-product launch implementation and its decision to stop installing merchandise such as kitchens.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
John Lewis & Partners put four straight home revenue declines to bed last week in an otherwise challenging seven-day stretch for the department store chain.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Rhenus Home Delivery will deliver all two-man orders for customers of furniture retailer Swoon after helping it make strides in the success rate for its deliveries.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Sofas were the best-selling category for furniture retailers in October as the wider big-ticket market made gains on the same month last year.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Private equity backed furniture retailer The Cotswold Company enjoyed double-digit growth in 2018–19 but profitability was hit by inventory management issues that forced it into spend more than planned on warehousing.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The venture debt provider that completed a takeover of heritage East-inspired furniture retailer Lombok back in 2017 is no longer the sole shareholder.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Specialist European retail sector investor Alteri Investors has agreed to buy Blue Group Hold Co, a newly formed holding company for Bensons for Beds, Harveys and Steinhoff's U.K. upholstery and bed factories.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
New stores helped fire growth at expanding floorcoverings retailer Connection Retail in 2018–19, during which underlying sales advanced nearly a fifth.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
French furniture and home accents retailer Maisons du Monde says it has decided to close all of its concessions inside Debenhams, dealing a blow to the department store retail chain.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Two of the U.K.'s largest furniture landlords have cited retail as the weak link in the property market as the value of their portfolios declined amid structural change impacting the sector.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Shop Direct says it has sourced £150 million of committed funding it requires following "an unexpected late surge" in payment protection insurance (PPI) claims ahead of the late August deadline.
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- INTERNATIONAL
Austrian furniture giant XXXLutz — one of the three largest retailers in the category worldwide — now operates across 12 European countries, though not yet the U.K.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Grocery and general merchandise discounter B&M is entrenching its position in the furniture sector, citing the category among its biggest gainers in the six months to end September.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Sales of home merchandise were down for the fourth straight week at department store retailer John Lewis & Partners but the rate of decline narrowed to low single figures.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Shortening lead times and further boosting its sustainability credentials are priorities for IKEA in the U.K., the country's largest retailer of home goods has disclosed.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The South East holding company behind the motion upholstery and beds brands Ashley Anderson and Willowbrook continued to expand in 2018–19. Profits declined on thinner margins.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Heavy rainfall failed to boost furniture retailers as out-of-town shopping parks attracted fewer shoppers on an annual basis for the first time since the summer.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Beales, the management-owned department store retailer, has bolstered its presence on Britain's South Coast with a new unit at Fareham Shopping Centre.
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- REGIONAL
Sales advanced for the second straight year at the privately-owned group behind three heritage department stores and the Slumber Slumber ecommerce beds website.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Mamas & Papas, the national nursery retailer that sells furniture spanning mattresses to wardrobes, chests and bedside cabinets, is closing six stores and laying off nearly 130 staff through an insolvent restructure.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
IKEA's Internet business in Britain is now worth more than £400 million in annual sales after more of its customers shopped online in 2018–19 but fewer walked its vast stores across the country.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Variety retailer Argos said it took a bigger share of the furniture market in the first half of its financial year, despite an overall decline in general merchandise sales.
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- REGIONAL
Sales climbed at Sussex and Surrey retailer Collingwood Batchellor in the year to January 27, 2019 with the furniture and department store operator having since gone on to find additional ways to deploy its assets.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Howdens, the major kitchen maker that sells to consumers through small builders and installers across its vast depot network, made late summer/early autumn gains as it continued to open new sites.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Food and general merchandise retailer Marks and Spencer Group (M&S) said weak clothing and home sales were contributing factors in weaker half-year results, during which underlying profits fell.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Difficult market conditions in the interior design sector made life tougher for furniture, lighting and home accents company Porta Romana in 2018–19, but cash climbed and EBITDA remained north of £2.3 million.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
After big promotion-driven gains in September and early October, sales of home merchandise at John Lewis & Partners fell sharply for the third straight week.
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- REGIONAL
The company behind the Elphicks of Farnham department store business and a separate bed shop in Dorking cut its net loss in half in the period preceding the closure of its New Malden store this summer.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Retail sales beat year-earlier levels in October after retailers — in particular apparel stores — slashed prices to stimulate activity, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
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- REGIONAL
A return to sales growth helped 2018–19 profits inch forward for Yorkshire and Teesside based floorcoverings retailer Calverts Carpets.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Ecommerce group Shop Direct, owner of the Littlewoods and Very brands, has appointed former Clarks executive Ben Fletcher as group chief financial officer.
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- REGIONAL
Shallower margins hit profits at South Coast furniture and department store retailer Bradbeers in 2018–19 despite continued top line growth. A property revaluation impacted reported net income.
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- ECOMMERCE
Home furnishings ecommerce giant Wayfair recorded a wider loss in the third quarter citing greater-than-anticipated impact from tariffs, which in turn led to customers extending the 'think time' before buying.
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- REGIONAL
Oldrid & Co., the privately-owned company behind the furniture and department store fascia Oldrids and Downtown in Lincolnshire, said the acquisition last year of additional land ahead of a major new development protects the asset.
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- SUPPLY & WHOLESALE
Margins widened at soft furnishings company Gordon John Textiles in the year to March 31, 2019 after it made the decision to reduce low margin turnover and seek more profitable customers.
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- ECOMMERCE
Shop Direct, owner of the Very and Littlewoods brands, said furniture and homeware sales returned to growth in the six months to end June after a series of initiatives yielded positive results.
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- REGIONAL
But margin swing and higher tax charge contributes to profits halving for the three-store business.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
The book value of the group behind retail department store giants Selfridges, Brown Thomas and Arnotts has been transformed after it satisfied outstanding debt following a share issue.
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- RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
Marks and Spencer (M&S) is for the first time introducing a buy now pay later option for online shoppers of furniture and other goods above a certain price threshold.
