Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Shoe Zone, Morrisons, M&S and more

Shoe Zone to raise £50m in IPO on Alternative Investment Market

Discount retailer Shoe Zone will become the latest bargain footwear business to list on the London stock exchange, the Times reported. Shoe Zone is seeking to raise up to £50m in an initial public offering on the Alternative Investment Market in May that could value the company at between £90m and £100m. The business will kick off the road show in May, offering institutional investors between 40% and 50% of the business. Numis is acting as its adviser and broker. Ahead of the IPO, Shoe Zone has strengthened its board with the appointment of DFS chief executive Ian Filby and Hornby non-executive director Charlie Caminada.

Morrisons to begin online grocery deliveries in London

Morrisons is poised to make its first entry into the London online grocery market next month, as it looks to catch up with rivals and turn round its core supermarket business, the Financial Times reported. The retailer will start online grocery deliveries in London on May 12, a month earlier than planned. The London grocery website goes live imminently.

The supermarket will make its London debut in Ruislip, and will serve 400,000 households. Orders will be fulfilled from Ocado’s warehouse in Dordon, Warwickshire. The supermarket will also begin offering a click-and-collect grocery service in the second half of the year.

M&S to make high-profile push for re-launched website

Marks & Spencer will launch a media campaign to push its re-launched website and delivery service after a £150m overhaul, the Daily Mail reported. Multi-channel director Laura Wade-Gery is expected to launch the plan on Thursday as part of a media blitz to inform shoppers of the changes and it is expected to see a significant increase in traffic. The campaign will include an in-store push to encourage shoppers to visit the site and adopt delivery options such as click-and-collect.

Oddbins to treble number of UK stores

High street wine retailer Oddbins is set to treble the number of stores throughout the UK as it moves to return to full strength in spite of collapsing into administration in 2011. The off-licence chain is returning to growth under the new ownership of European Food Brokers (EFB). EFB’s owner Raj Chatha is understood to have now given the green light to once again to expand the chain. The move means Oddbins will grow to more than 100 company-owned stores within the next 12 months.

At the same time as this multi-million-pound expansion of the estate, Oddbins will unveil a franchise model to bolster the brand in areas where it is not already represented. The model is likely to see the brand franchised to existing independent wine retailers and off-licences looking for assistance in buying and marketing. Chatha told the Telegraph Oddbins was on track to reach profitability in the current financial year.

Tesco faces pressure to add more operational expertise to board

UK retailer Tesco is planning to bolster its boardroom with the addition of more operational expertise to address concerns about its recent performance, The Telegraph reported. Although the board is considered internally to be ‘strong’, at least one new non-executive is likely to be hired by the end this year with a background in retailing or consumer goods. As well as bolstering the non-executive ranks, Tesco’s chairman Sir Richard Broadbent is believed to be keen eventually to promote some of Tesco’s other executives, such as UK chief Chris Bush, to the board.