Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Evans Cycles, River Island, Euro General and more

Evans Cycles awards Mindshare £1m media account

Evans Cycles has handed its £1m media planning and buying account to Mindshare following a competitive pitch. According to The Drum, the UK cycle retailer has tasked the agency with targeting cyclists with a data led approach, combining numerous data sets to fuel above the line strategy. Evans Cycles is also seeking brand growth nationally and Mindshare will support its store opening programme with local activity.

River Island joins start-up accelerator programme

River Island has joined TrueStart, a start-up accelerator programme, for exposure towards more innovation and technology in the retail space.

Speaking to The Drum, chief information officer Doug Gardner explained the role of IT at River Island has changed over the past 12 months, with his team now working more closely with the e-commerce and marketing sides of the business. He explained the partnership with TrueStart is the next phase of this, and will see him collaborate with entrepreneurs to bring to fresh ideas to River Island’s in-store experience.

Gardner will offer active mentorship and guidance to start-ups during the six month accelerator programme in exchange for access to new ideas. He has also not ruled out the possibility of establishing an in-house tech hub, but said there is a danger that by doing so it would risk ideas going stale.

Euro General reveals €1.25m in green

Euro General Retail swung to a pre-tax profit of €1.25m in the year to May 10, 2014, from a pre-tax loss of €129,435 in the previous year. According to the Independent, the discount retailer saw its revenues for 12 months increase by 8% to €60.7m, performing ‘satisfactorily’. The spokesman for the company confirmed that the business’s aim this year is to consolidate its position.

HMV administrator set to grab fees worth £19m

HMV administrator and advisers are on track to claim as much as £19m in fees two years after its collapse, The Times reported. Unsecured creditors are to bank less than a penny in the pound. The latest update on the administration progress from Deloitte shows that it earned £11.7m in fees for two years’ work, although the firm insists that it will be paid only about £8m of that.

Some store workers have suggested the misting machines exacerbated this effect with shoppers: giving them the impression that Morrisons had become too upmarket for them and that they would be better off at the discounters.