Four years ago today, Dreams collapsed into administration, heralding hundreds of job losses and scores of store closures.
Fast-forward to last year and the retailer’s profits rocketed 136% while like-for-likes shot up 14.1%.
It’s a stellar turnaround by boss Mike Logue, although he wouldn’t refer to it as such.
“If you ever think you’ve won, you’ve lost,” he told Retail Week in an exclusive interview on its full-year results. “There’s always someone coming up faster on the inside lane.”
In a volatile retail climate it’s heartening to see that such turnarounds are achievable.
Sainsbury’s has become the fourth major retailer to announce job losses, following in the footsteps of Boots, John Lewis and Tesco. Of course, these cuts are less about the health of the companies concerned and more indicative of the future of the industry.
Elsewhere, the under-siege Sir Philip Green will double Arcadia pension contributions and Fat Face has seen sales rise but a weak pound has hurt profits.
Quote of the day
“I’m very confident in how Dreams will perform, but retailers could be in for a challenging year. Uncertainty in retail is one thing, but uncertainty in big-ticket retail is another step up again.”
– Dreams boss Mike Logue on the year ahead
Today in numbers
400
The number of price controller jobs Sainsbury’s is in consultation over
£190m
The Arcadia pension deficit as it stood in August 2015
Becky Waller-Davies, fashion reporter
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