Today in retail: Bunnings store roll-out gives B&Q a headache

The Wesfarmers-owned business will now open 20 pilot Bunnings stores by the end of the year, double the number it initially planned.

At a time when B&Q is grappling with slowing sales and coming to terms with the departures of boss Michael Loeve and retail director Damian McGloughlin – who himself joined Bunnings – the last thing it needs is the Aussie chain encroaching onto its territory even quicker than it anticipated.

Kingfisher boss Veronique Laury will be banking on her ‘One Kingfisher’ strategy bearing fruit sooner rather than later, after admitting her transformation plan had caused “some business disruption”.

It’s disruption that Bunnings is clearly aiming to take full advantage of.

Elsewhere today, Tesco asked the CMA to fast-track its investigation into its acquisition of Booker, and Burberry became the latest retailer to come under fire over share awards handed to outgoing chief creative and chief executive Christopher Bailey and new chief financial and operating officer Julie Brown.

And to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone launch, we look at 10 ways the smartphone has transformed retail.

Quote of the day

“Unfortunately, the squeeze in households’ finances is expected to continue over the next months as we see little evidence that wage growth will pick up, and neither have we reached peak inflation just yet”

– Cebr senior economist Kay Neufeld provides a bleak outlook for consumer spending

Today in numbers

1.9%

The decline in disposable income suffered by UK households in May, compared to the same month last year  

90,000

The square footage of Bunnings’ newest store, which opened in Milton Keynes today

£5.4m

The exceptional share award handed to Burberry boss Christopher Bailey

Tomorrow’s agenda

With no trading updates expected tomorrow, the GfK’s first consumer confidence monitor since the general election is likely to attract plenty of interest.

Luke Tugby, head of content