All The Retail Week articles
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VideoReview of the year: What changed retail in 2019?
It has been another 12 months of change in the retail sector. The Retail Week team looks back on 2019 and selects some of the landmark moments and trends that characterised the year and will likely shape the industry in 2020 and beyond.
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VideoAfter Black Friday’s sales boost, has peak trading already peaked?
Black Friday beat expectations as sales and footfall surged. PwC head of consumer markets Lisa Hooker joins Retail Week executive editor George MacDonald to discuss the promotional extravaganza, how the final weeks of peak will play out and what’s in store for retail in the new year.
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VideoFrasers Schmasers – will Sports Direct rebrand make any difference?
As Sports Direct unveils plans for a group rebrand to Frasers, retail adviser Richard Hyman and Retail Week head of content Grace Bowden discuss whether a new name will have any impact on how the business is perceived by brands or shoppers.
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VideoWill John Lewis’ focus on in-store experience pay off?
After the opening of John Lewis’ revamped department store in Southampton, where services and experience are centre stage, Retail Week executive editor George MacDonald and stores editor John Ryan discuss whether it lives up to its ‘playground’ billing and how effectively the new approach has been executed.
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VideoRita Clifton: Why JLP and M&S hit the mark in festive ad battle
As John Lewis unveils its highly anticipated Christmas campaign, Brandcap co-founder and Asos non-executive director Rita Clifton joins Retail Week’s Grace Bowden to discuss the retailers that have pulled a Christmas cracker with their festive adverts.
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VideoCan M&S’ floundering fashion business ever recover?
Marks & Spencer’s apparel arm suffered a like-for-like sales slide of 5.5% in the first half. Chief executive Steve Rowe has taken control of the clothing business and says a new team has got off to a great start and “their first ranges have delivered”. GlobalData global retail research director Maureen Hinton joins Retail Week executive editor George MacDonald to discuss M&S’ fashion prospects.
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VideoWill December election spell retail blues or boom during peak?
A divided nation is heading to the polls for the first December general election in almost 100 years. Seasoned Peel Hunt retail analyst John Stevenson joins Retail Week executive editor George MacDonald to discuss the implications for peak trading and the industry’s wider Christmas prospects.
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VideoRetail jobs wipeout – can new roles replace those lost?
More than 80,000 retail jobs were lost in the third quarter of this year and employment has now fallen for almost four years in a row.
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VideoWill Christmas 2019 be ho-ho-ho or humbug for retailers?
With some retail leaders preparing for ‘the worst Christmas since Woolworths collapsed’ in 2008, the team debate if businesses will be full of festive cheer or fear by the end of 2019.
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VideoIs Hays Travel bonkers to buy 555 Thomas Cook stores?
After Hays Travel bought more than 500 Thomas Cook stores, potentially saving thousands of jobs, following its recent collapse, the team debate if the move is savvy or reckless, and what the deal means for the wider high street.
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VideoInsights on tomorrow’s retail from Tech. 2019
The team picks their highlights from this year’s Tech. 2019 festival, including a debate on whether the mobile phone is ‘dead’.
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VideoIs Coupe’s strategy enough to get Sainsbury’s back on track?
As Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe unveils his strategic “tweaks”, the Retail Week team ask whether evolution rather than revolution will get the grocer firing on all cylinders again.
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VideoWhy Next's boss thinks no-deal Brexit will mean lower prices
As Next unveils its half-year results, the team discuss boss Lord Wolfson’s assertion that the clothing retailer would be able to cut prices by 2% in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
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VideoWatch: Has Waitrose lost its battle with Ocado before it’s begun?
As Waitrose cuts ties with Ocado replacement TDP just four months after joining forces, the team - along with special guest Bryan Roberts - debate if the grocer made an error in hiring an unknown partner in the first place and whether it can stick to its goal of “trebling the size of its online grocery business to £1bn over the next three years”.
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VideoWatch: Can Flannels clean up for Sports Direct?
As Sports Direct opens its long-awaited Flannels flagship on Oxford Street, the team debate if the £10m store is a wise investment or an expensive distraction from the group’s much-publicised problems.
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VideoWatch: Would FTSE 100 relegation spell disaster for M&S?
As Marks & Spencer teeters on the brink of relegation from the FTSE 100 for the first time in its history, the team discuss what impact it could have on the high street bellwether.
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VideoWatch: Is Asos' supplier squeeze a sign of desperation?
Following profit warnings earlier in the year and asking suppliers for discounts this week, Asos is under scrutiny. The team debate if boss Nick Beighton can get the etailer back on track.
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VideoWatch: Wolfson or the grocers – who’s right about Brexit?
In a week when retail leaders such as Next’s Lord Wolfson and Asda’s Roger Burnley have expressed starkly contrasting views on the impact of Brexit, the team debate who’s right and who’s wrong.
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VideoWatch: Is Boris Johnson as PM good or bad for retail?
Following Boris Johnson entering Downing Street and promising to deliver Brexit by October 31 “do or die”, the team debate what impact the new prime minister will have on retailers.
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VideoWatch: How off target is Ashley's plan for Sports Direct?
After Sports Direct delayed its full-year results for up to a month, the team discuss the challenges facing Mike Ashley’s empire and the implications for the wider high street.