Retail News CRM

Tag: england

  • Second Hotel Chocolat opens door

    Second Hotel Chocolat opens door

    Hotel Chocolat has opened its second store in Asia Pacific. The British-based luxury chocolate retailer has opened an outlet in Tokyo to follow up its first store in the region, in Hong Kong. The new store is in the giant Aeon Lake Town shopping mall on the outskirts of Tokyo. More are planned for Japan, where there is established demand for luxury confectionery.

    “The reaction to Hotel Chocolat in Japan on our first day of trading last week was hugely encouraging,” said co-founder and CEO of Hotel Chocolat, Angus Thirlwell.

    “Customer engagement, media attention, and sales performance were all well ahead of expectations.
    “Our portfolio of products landed with aplomb. Hot Chocolat drinks, our 8g sculpted chocolate batons, and our Selector range were all in high demand. We look forward to unfolding the brand further here.”

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  • Poundworld on the brink of collapse with 5,300 jobs at risk

    Poundworld on the brink of collapse with 5,300 jobs at risk

    UK discount retailer Poundworld is on the brink of collapse with an administrator about to be appointed following the collapse of talks with a potential angel investor.

    As reported, the company has filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator, giving the company 10 business days protection from its creditors, and management time to finalise a restructuring plan to keep the 355-store chain trading.

    The UK financial press reports that Deloitte has been appointed to oversee the administration process and was already working on a plan as a contingency should a new owner not be found.

    Retail turnaround specialist Alteri Investors this week walked away from talks over taking over the ailing company leaving the owners with no other option than to commence administration procedures, given the business is running low on cash.

    Poundworld is owned by US private-equity company TPG Capital. Last financial year it lost £17.1 million, more than three times the loss of the prior year.

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  • Indonesia to expand seafood market to England

    Indonesia to expand seafood market to England

    Indonesian government, through the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Resources, will work to expand the seafood market to England and North Ireland as part of an MoU for maritime cooperation signed by the two countries in July 2015.

    “The UK is the biggest seafood market for Indonesia, and the European Union accounts for 60 percent of our total seafood market,” Deputy Minister for Maritime Sovereignty Arif Havas Oegroseno said on the sidelines of the “Bilateral Maritime Workshop” here on Monday.

    With a large market, Great Britain is considered as setting the standards in the seafood market in the world.
    “Through our collaboration with the British, we could manage our shrimps, fishes, or other seafood species to meet the world standards as well as increase the production,” Havas stated.

    In addition, he said, cooperation on marine fisheries between the two countries was also considered as an opportunity to introduce Indonesian seafood products which were free of any illegal practices, including slavery.
    Indonesia and the UK have initiated maritime cooperation through the Bilateral Maritime Forum, a meeting of which would be held in London next April.

    The UK was one of the maritime countries, known for its experience and high end technology in the field.
    Therefore, the workshop held in Jakarta was expected to focus on some maritime issues which would be later discussed in the forum in London.

    Besides expanding the seafood market, the Indonesia-UK cooperation would also involve education, maritime investment in the shipbuilding field and exchange of information on international maritime law.

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  • Protests squeeze Clarks profits

    Protests squeeze Clarks profits

    Hong Kong distributors of shoe label Clarks has blamed the Occupy Central protests for a 45 per cent profit slump in the year to December.

    S.Culture has the exclusive distribution rights for a number of international lifestyle comfort footwear brands, including Clarks, Josef Seibel, The Flexx and Yokono. It has retail outlets in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan trading  under the brands S.Culture, Shoe Mart and Scoops as well as sole brand stores for Clarks, Clarks Originals and Josef Seibel.

    “The board believes the significant decrease in the unaudited consolidated net profit is mainly attributable to an unexpected deterioration of the general atmosphere of the consumer market in Hong Kong commencing in the third quarter of 2014 leading up to the Occupy Central event and its negative lingering effect until the fourth quarter of 2014.”

    However, there was a rosier side to its profit warning lodgement. It said the addition of 10 stores had taken its retail network to 122 as at December. Due to the protests and downturn in spending by Chinese mainland tourists, these new stores had yet to break even and had incurred costs in leasing, staff recruitment, stock and other overheads

    Despite the significant decrease in the unaudited consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of 2014, the group recorded a same store sales growth of approximately 1.3 per cent.

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