Breakfast Briefing: Retail news on Wiggle, Mothercare and Debenhams

Wiggle plots marketing campaign in UK and Australia

Online bike and tri-sports retailer Wiggle is launching a new multimillion-dollar ‘This Is How We Roll’ marketing campaign, aimed at boosting its penetration with cycling enthusiasts in the UK and Australia. The campaign will include TV, print media and online elements and will feature a new commissioned song by British songwriter George Barnett, according to.Bicycle Retailer.

Mothercare looks to cut payroll costs with job cuts

Loss-making Mothercare is eyeing to axe up to 140 shopfloor managers in a move that would save £1.3m and help minimise the baby goods retailer’s payroll costs to 12% of sales, The Guardian reports. The chain said 620 middle managers had been put at risk of redundancy, with 120-140 jobs expected to go as new roles are created, according to The Guardian.

Debenhams to step up third-party shops-within-shops

Debenhams is set to increase the number of third-party shops-within-shops in its department stores, the Financial Times reported. The retailer would expand the trials with Sports Direct, Monsoon and Costa Coffee and add a raft of new third-party clothing and food and brands to fill a surfeit of space in its stores, according to its chief executive Michael Sharp.

The chain will also add some new concessions, including Only, a Danish women’s fashion brand, and Jack & Jones, the Danish menswear brand, which will have 25 and 15 concessions, respectively, by September.

No Apple Watches in-store

The Apple Watch will not be available to buy in-store from next Friday and throughout May, according to a memo to staff from Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts, reports The Telegraph. Customers instead will be prompted by staff to order their Watch of choice online in order to receive it faster, a decision Ahrendts said had ‘not been easy’.