Including Argos reporting strongest total sales growth in eight quarters.
The Source rounds up some of the key retail stories of the week.
Argos has reported its strongest total sales growth in eight quarters. Total sales for the 13 weeks to May 28 grew 2.6% to £868 million. However, like for like sales at Home Retail Group grew by 0.1%. Chief executive John Walden also confirmed that the acquisition by Sainsbury’s was on track to complete in the third quarter of this calendar year.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s posted a 0.8% dip in first quarter like for like sales. Total sales edged up 0.3% in the 12 weeks to June 4, however boss Mike Coupe said that market conditions remain ‘challenging’.
WH Smith has seen its group sales increase 2% in the 14 weeks to June 4. In the high street business, total sales dropped 4%, while like for likes were down 3%. However, the travel division (including stores at airports and train stations) saw sales rise 9% on a total basis and 3% on like for likes.
New Look has posted full year pre-tax profit of £59.1 million, an increase of 16.8%. Revenue for the year to March 26 was up 5.4% to just over £1.4 billion. Like for like sales in the UK rose 3.4%.
Cath Kidston is to step down from her role as non executive director of the fashion and homewares brand that she founded. She will retire at the company’s AGM and look to pursue other business interests.
UK retail like for like sales edged up 0.5% in May, according to the BRC and KPMG monthly retail sales monitor. Total sales were up 1.4%, with some of the best performing categories including children’s clothing and footwear. Online sales of non food lines in the UK grew 13.7% for the month.
Amazon Fresh has made its debut, as Amazon looks to up its market share within the grocery space. The extensive range covers fresh, frozen, ambient and household categories, and is currently available in 69 central and East London postcodes. The service is only available to Amazon Prime members, who will pay an extra £6.99 to sign up.
Tesco is to sell the Giraffe restaurant chain to Boparan Holdings. The sale includes 54 standalone restaurants – of which 12 are franchise sites – plus three restaurants in Tesco stores.
