Tesco is planning to shut a raft of city centre stores and convert dozens of others to Jack’s, its new discount format, in a move that will put thousands of jobs at risk (The Sunday Times £). Industry insiders claimed Tesco was planning to close up to 30 poorly performing Metro stores and convert a further 60, although the supermarket disputed these numbers. Tesco has told staff at Metro outlets in parts of Lancashire as well as in Manchester and Liverpool that their stores will be closing (Daily Mail). The average Metro employs 75 people.
Tesco is poised to launch a string of discount retail stores called Jack’s – but it will be operating for a whole month without watertight protection over its trademark, reports the Daily Mail. More than 15 complaints have already been registered in both the UK and the EU against the name and, separately, the brand’s red logo. Lawyers said anyone who thinks the new logo is similar to their own has until October 17 to file a complaint at the EU’s Intellectual Property Office.
The Co-operative Group’s £143m acquisition of the Nisa chain of convenience stores in May helped lift sales 10 per cent and profits 85 per cent in the first half of the year (Financial Times £). Food retail like-for-like sales at the mutual increased 4.4 per cent from a year earlier, helping drive an overall increase in food sales to £3.6bn (The Telegraph). In positive news for the once struggling group, the Co-op said its pre-tax profits for the first half had risen 86 per cent from £14 million to £26 million after paying out £35 million to members and communities (The Times £).
One of Unilever’s largest shareholders has indicated it could vote against the consumer group’s contentious plan to abandon its 88-year dual-governance structure in London and Amsterdam (The Times £). In a move ratcheting up the pressure on Unilever, Nick Train, joint founder of Lindsell Train, the third largest shareholder, said the decision would not only result in the forced sale of Unilever shares but expose UK shareholders to additional tax risks in the Netherlands. The investor said that Unilever should be offering a “perpetuity guarantee” to UK shareholders that they would not suffer from any future changes in Dutch tax policy.
Waitrose & Partners is to remove traditional plastic bags for loose fruit and vegetables and 5p single-use plastic bags from its stores by next spring (The Guardian). The supermarket said the move would cut 134m plastic bags, the equivalent of 500 tonnes of plastic a year.
Amazon is investigating claims that employees accepted bribes to disclose confidential data that would give sellers that use its marketplace a competitive advantage (Financial Times £). The company confirmed the investigation following a report in the Wall Street Journal that Amazon employees, working through brokers, have sold internal sales data, the email addresses of product reviewers, and the ability to delete negative reviews and restore banned accounts.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Ben Marlow compared John Lewis woes to Morrison’s success, writing: “There were no such excuses up in Yorkshire as Morrisons delivered its best quarterly sales in nearly a decade despite facing a brutally competitive commercial backdrop.”
“The main outcome of Coca-Cola’s £3.9bn acquisition of the Costa Coffee group from Whitbread will not involve a shift to bricks-and-mortar retail, but rather the tapping of the UK company’s supply chain to provide coffee to fast-food clients and meet consumer demand for hot coffee drinks,” writes Stefania Palma in an analysis for the Financial Times (£).
American retailers grew sales at the slowest pace in six months in August as customers shied away from department stores and spent less on cars and clothing, government figures showed yesterday (The Times £)
Pressure is mounting on stationery chain Paperchase after credit insurers pulled cover for suppliers amid concerns over the company’s finances (Telegraph).
Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley has threatened to block Debenhams’ attempt to sell its Danish department store chain Magasin du Nord, putting a sorely needed £200m cash injection in jeopardy (The Sunday Times £).
Profits at B&Q owner Kingfisher are set for a double-digit fall as its overseas operations continue to struggle (Telegraph). Analysts expect the company to record a 12pc drop in half year pre-tax profits to £386m when it updates the market on Wednesday.
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