Mothercare (MTC) is launching a closing down sale with nearly all products “dramatically reduced” as it prepares to close all its 79 stores and its website in the UK. The retailer is to begin clearing stock with the sale on Friday after appointing administrators from the advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers on Tuesday, who are to close down its UK retail arm with the loss of more than 2,800 jobs within the next few months. Jobs at Mothercare’s warehouse and call centres – which are outsourced to other companies – are also at risk. The company said any product warranties or guarantees would remain valid and customers should spend any gift cards as soon as possible in the UK. Gift cards will no longer be available to purchase.
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) has thrown down the gauntlet to John Lewis this year with an all-dancing Christmas advert featuring a signature “shoulder roll” move that it hopes could set dancefloors and social media alight over the festive season. Set to House of Pain’s 1992 hit Jump Around, the ad was made by the British director Jake Nava, best known for Beyoncé’s Single Ladies music video. The M&S ad, which launched on Friday, features a cast of dancers “jumping around” in M&S jumpers. The choreography in the M&S’s “Go Jumpers” commercial is less complex than the routine tackled by Beyoncé and her backing troupe in Nava’s video, with the retailer offering advice on how to master the simple move (instructions: “adopt a power stance” and then roll your shoulder forward and back – and repeat). The store chain is hoping shoulder-rollers will then film their efforts and share their videos on social media using the hashtag #gojumpers.
The luxury carmaker Aston Martin Holdings (AML) has slumped to £13m loss over the most recent three months, blaming tough trading conditions in the UK and Europe and weak sales of its Vantage two-seater sports car. Aston Martin has pinned its hopes on a “second century plan” unveiled in 2016, under which it launches seven new cars in seven years. The Vantage, which costs from £120,900, is the second model in the plan, but sales have been weaker than expected because the two-seater luxury sports car market is in decline. Andy Palmer, the chief executive, acknowledged that things had not gone as expected. “We didn’t expect the downturn in the market, we didn’t expect the delay of Brexit … We are working to the plan and DBX is a key part of that plan.”
Seven months after the founder of Superdry (SDRY) forced his way back into the fashion business it has reported a steep fall in sales but said its profit margins were starting to recover as it ended widespread discounting. Sales tumbled by more than 11% in the first half of its financial year as Julian Dunkerton retook the helm and overhauled the retailer, which was running frequent promotions to increase sales. “We are moving the business away from a reliance on constant promotions, and while this focus on full price sales has affected revenue in the first half, this is being partially offset by a better gross margin performance,” he said.
The £200m cost of closing 15 supermarkets and dozens of Argos stores has all but wiped out profits at Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) as the supermarket faces rising competition from discount rivals. The UK’s second largest grocer said pretax profits dived more than 90% to £9m in the six months to 21 September after the one-off property write-down, compared with £107m in the same period a year before. It also spent £25m in redundancy costs related to reorganising store management and closing an Argos delivery depot as the supermarket steps up integration with the catalogue shop it acquired in 2016. The write-down follows Sainsbury’s announcement two months ago that it would close up to 70 Argos stores and replace them with outlets inside its supermarkets. It is also closing a net five supermarkets and will shut 40 convenience stores, although it intends to open 100 new ones.
