All Home & DIY articles – Page 269

  • News

    Inflation hits 4.4 per cent

    2008-08-12T10:00:35Z

    Inflation has hit 4.4 per cent, more than twice the Government’s 2 per cent target and up by the highest amount since the Consumer Prices Index began in 1997.

  • News

    UK retail sales slip further

    2008-08-12T08:28:18Z

    UK like-for-like retail sales fell 0.9 per cent in July compared with the same month last year.

  • News

    DIY endures worst summer since 2004

    2008-08-11T16:37:21Z

    DIY retailers are suffering their worst summer since 2004, as consumers hit by the downturn put off big home improvement projects.

  • News

    Debenhams to help Wrapit customers

    2008-08-08T11:34:46Z

    Debenhams will help to ease the disappointment of newlyweds left without their wedding gifts following the collapse of online gift service Wrapit.

  • News

    OFT clears Home Retail acquisition of Focus stores

    2008-08-07T16:15:57Z

    The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has approved the sale of 27 Focus stores to Home Retail Group.

  • News

    Sir Tom Hunter eyes Flying Brands

    2008-08-07T15:58:03Z

    Multichannel retailer Flying Brands has confirmed an offer approach from Scottish billionaire Sir Tom Hunter’s investment vehicle West Coast Capital.

  • News

    MFI chief vows to fight slump and invest more

    2008-08-07T11:53:42Z

    MFI chief executive Gary Favell has vowed to fight the savage downturn in the furniture market, insisting there is no immediate threat to the company’s future.

  • News

    ScS saviours unveil plans to revitalise chain

    2008-08-07T11:33:37Z

    The new owner of ScS Upholstery, which fell into administration last month, has laid out its plans to revive the struggling furn-iture retailer.

  • News

    Ex-Beds Direct bosses outline Heli-Bed plans

    2008-08-07T11:11:20Z

    The former management of Beds Direct, which hit the buffers last week, are to focus on generating sales from a smaller number of stores at its newly formed retail business Heli-Beds.

  • News

    Castorama Italy sale is welcomed by City

    2008-08-07T10:55:59Z

    The sale of Kingfisher’s Castorama Italy business has been greeted with approval by the City.

  • Analysis

    Tuned in

    2008-08-07T09:29:29Z

    If you think music in stores is merely background pleasantry, think again. It affects the way shoppers move, think and spend, as Charlotte Hardie discovers.

  • News

    Land of Leather faces lawsuit

    2008-08-06T08:57:18Z

    Furniture retailer Land of Leather is reported to be facing a 250,000 lawsuit from an investment group Agilo, which wanted to inject 5 million into the struggling retailer two months ago.

  • News

    Eleven charged in US retail identity theft case

    2008-08-06T08:50:17Z

    Retailers that fell victim to one of the biggest identity theft crimes on record have learnt that US authorities have charged 11 people from five countries with stealing and selling tens of millions of credit card numbers and data.

  • News

    Consumer confidence plummets again

    2008-08-06T08:38:17Z

    Consumers are becoming increasingly nervous, with consumer spending growth expected to slow to just 0.5 per cent next year, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report.

  • News

    Carpetright like-for-likes plummet

    2008-08-05T08:22:16Z

    Carpetright’s like-for-like sales in the UK and Republic of Ireland slumped 15.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to August 2, 2008.

  • News

    Ikea enters mobile phone market

    2008-08-04T09:27:15Z

    Swedish furniture retailer Ikea has joined retailers such as Asda and Tesco by offering a mobile phone service.

  • Opinion

    The Retail Week – August 1, 2008

    2008-08-01T09:48:20Z

    Ian Cheshire has wasted no time in getting to grips with the mammoth task ahead of him at Kingfisher.

  • News

    Flying Brands profits plummet

    2008-08-01T09:01:03Z

    Pre-tax profits at multichannel retailer Flying Brands have more than halved in the 26 weeks to June 27, falling to 1.2 million.

  • News

    Kingfisher agrees sale of Castorama Italy

    2008-08-01T08:36:36Z

    DIY giant Kingfisher has agreed to sell its Castorama Italy business for €560 million ( 440 million) to French home improvement retailer Groupe Adeo.

  • News

    Rumours of MFI restructure played down

    2008-07-31T10:49:05Z

    The appointment of directors of restructuring specialist Hilco to the board of MFI-owner MEP Mayflower does not signal a need for emergency surgery, sources close to the retailer insist.