Westfield
A steady flow of customers emerged as they hit the high streets today (12 April), and queues formed outside branches of Primark, TK Maxx, Marks & Spencer, Nike, John Lewis and Selfridges. Footfall was up 218.2% week on week at 10am, Springboard reported, with rises of 339.7% in shopping centres, 232.8% in high streets and 58.2% on retail parks.
“The atmosphere among staff is great. They are all happy to be back and customers are also desperate to be back in physical stores – so far, so good,” a Frasers Group retail spokeswoman told Drapers. “Its busier than normal, but it’s also half-term for some schools. People are also in need of sportswear [as gyms also reopen today].
Next shares climb as online sales take off
telegraph.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from telegraph.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Roger Burnley: running Asda during Covid and takeover like spinning two plates at once | News
thegrocer.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thegrocer.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Some industry experts have suggested high street stalwart Next might be interested in George, if it were for sale under licence.
“Next has been active in the licence sector recently, with Victoria’s Secret, Ted Baker for lingerie, Laura Ashley, and it was looking at buying Topshop,” one industry source told Drapers.
Advertisement
“They are changing their business model and licensing is a part of this new change. Could Next take the license, supply themselves, then sell the goods back to Asda? It’s possible.”
There has been speculation that Next, which has been active in the licence sector lately, could also acquire George
New Chinese owner tries on Clarks shoes for size
The struggling shoe empire has been bought by a fund and will put its best foot forward in the Asian country
6 March 2021 • 3:00pm
Clarks’ new Chinese owners are not afraid to admit that they had no idea how many shoes the 195-year-old firm sells each year.
“If you would have asked me a year ago, I would have got it completely wrong,” says Tom Pitts from Lionrock Capital, the Hong Kong private equity fund that has fronted the takeover by Olympic gymnast-turned-retail billionaire Li Ning.
The answer, 40 million pairs, “really turned our heads”, Pitts adds. “I would have come way underneath that number.”