Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Dixons Carphone, Kurt Geiger and more

Sainsbury's finance boss claims grocer poised for strong Christmas

Sainsbury’s chief financial officer John Rogers has said the grocer will not be closing stores and it is confident that the retailer would have a strong Christmas.

The finance boss told The Mail on Sunday the group is going into Christmas with a "bounce in its step".

"We did a very extensive review of our store estate and looked at what is happening to the market and the growth of the discounters. But we came to the conclusion that there was very little excess spaces across our estate," he said.

He also added that the environment for selling groceries would continue to be difficult in the New Year with the rise in prominence of German discounters Aldi and Lidl.

John Lewis pumps £500m into online shopping

John Lewis is injecting half a billion pounds in its internet shopping service as it expects online sales to surpass stores sales in just four years.

The department store chain has earmarked £500m as part of investment plan that is to be completed by the end of 2018.

The programme will see hundreds of new additions to its IT department, along with the completion of warehousing and investment into information technology that will improve systems, forward planning, analysis of shoppers and their buying habits.

Footwear retailer Kurt Geiger changes ownership

Private equity firm Cinven has snapped up footwear brand Kurt Geiger from Sycamore Partners in a deal worth £245m, The Financial Times reported.

A formal announcement is expected to be made as early as today, people familiar with the situation said.

The footwear retailer’s long-serving executives – creative director Rebecca Farrar-Hockley and chief executive Neil Clifford – are likely to remain.

Dixons Carphone could launch emergency service for home gadgets and appliances

Dixons Carphone is gearing up to launch new subscription services for customers to help them maintain home gadgets and appliances.

The high street retailer is developing software and infrastructure to deliver an “emergency service for the connected world”.

The company will offer its customers remote monitoring of their home network for faults and the ability to get help via an app from specialists, including engineer call-outs.

However, Dixons Carphone is likely to face competition from British Gas, which could combine its boiler-servicing plans with its increasing moves into home automation via the Hive internet-connected thermostat.