Joseph for sale

The British luxury clothing chain Joseph was put on sale last Friday for approximately GBP 100 million, according to media reports. The group is being sold by a consortium that includes Joseph founder, Joseph Ettedgui. According to The Times newspaper, the consortium is sending information to over 20 possible buyers this week. Potential buyers are…

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New Look revamps flagship

Fashion retailer New Look is to close its flagship store for a complete revamp only 18 months after its launch. The Oxford Street shop cost £3m to transform into a space age, colourful fashion store and was praised by design critics. And while sales targets surpassed expectancies, the warehouse styling was not popular with some…

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Lacroix for sale

The luxury goods giant LVMH is to sell floundering fashion house Christian Lacroix. The chairman of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, is currently in talks with Florida-based travel retail company Falic Group. Although the group refrained from commenting, Falic’s chairman, Simon Falic, spoke to Women’s Wear Daily about the deal: “We are in final negotiations to acquire…

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Closure Littlewoods opportunity for other retailers

The closure of Littlewoods Stores outlets will leave a gap in the age 55+ clothing and footwear market that could retailers like Marks and Spencer and Bhs. Market research group TNS FashionTrak found that Littlewoods stores attracted older consumers, with 60 percent of turnover generated by purchases made by people aged 55+. The age 55+…

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British Retailers lose revenue from absenteeism

British businesses are losing tens of millions of pounds a year due to the huge number of employees sneaking extra days off work either side of the weekend. Ninety per cent of firms said that the most common day for sickness was either Monday or Friday.Employment law experts have dubbed the trend Long Weekend Syndrome….

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Bally breaks even

The Swiss leather and fashion brand Bally is in a celebratory mood, having finally recovered from run of several years in the red.”We had some great news last year. We broke even,” said Bally CEO, Marco Franchini, who was head hunted from the Gucci Group three years ago to turn around the struggling fashion house….

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Fashions in a city style

A new website devoted to the modern vibrant city centre life-style is offering shops the chance to shine under a wider spotlight. www.citybloc.com aims to help people get the very best from living, working or socialising in city centres – pinpointing the shopper’s paradise, the top bars and restaurants, the liveliest night spots, and the…

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Shoe shortage

Shoe prices may rocket and there could be shortages in the shops by next autumn say top retailers such as Tesco and Marks & Spencer. Last summer the High Street was plunged into a ‘bra wars’ crisis when trade limits were slapped on imports of lingerie and jumpers. Now similar uncertainty over footwear could spread…

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Selma Blair new face of Chanel

Whether you find her pretty, interesting or absolutely none of the above, it cannot be refuted that skinny actress Selma Blair wears her Chanel well. Karl Lagerfeld, who has dressed her repeatedly, including for her wedding, has now photographed her for the new Chanel Vision ads. “I have a lovely relationship with Karl,” Blair told…

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Retailers not out of the slump yet

The UK manufacturing sector remained static this month as tough high street conditions continued to hurt orders, a survey from the CBI has showed. The CBI’s survey found that a net balance of -21 pct of firms are pessimistic about the business situation for the coming quarter, against -16 pct in July and expectations of…

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