Retail Day
Retail Week, today
Archive for January, 2010
Manifestly correct
Today Retail Week launches its Manifesto for the High Street, our attempt at making a constructive contribution to the debate on the future of the UK’s shopping streets. There is clearly a massive issue, because empty shops and an abdication of responsibility from the politicians have meant that many of the UK’s shopping areas are looking particularly forlorn.
Politicians, both local and central, have traditionally assumed that their town centres can look after themselves, that new retailers will replace those that have closed, and that the shoppers that stores attract will ensure the town centre is a dynamic and busy place.
They’ve been asleep on the job, ignoring the impact of both the recession and the rise of retailing both online and out-of-town. And with vacancy rates soaring to 20% and beyond in some places, the need for action now cannot be ignored. There are some low-cost and relatively easy solutions, and with a general election looming, there’s no better time to bring this to the attention of the politicians - we’ll be sending the final manifesto on to all three parties once we’ve incorporated all the feedback to the version we’ve published.
I’d love to hear your views on the manifesto page of the website.
Last night it was the Drapers’ Etail Awards, hosted by the fragrant Claudia Winkelman at the trendy Bloomsbury Ballroom. It had been a long day, having been up since 5am for the BBC, but I bravely soldiered on and it was a great evening, with discount sportswear site M&M Direct sweeping the board. Its very likeable boss Steve Robinson - who I believe has on more than one occasion been compared to actor Jim Carey - was on the slopes unfortunately, but buying director Neil Sampson made it just in time after a mad dash from Heathrow to collect the awards.
Etailers are generally fun - they’re all quite young, and in the fashion world at least, an appealing mix of geek and glamour. Certainly they were partying hard and I’m flagging today, although have been perked up by an excellent lunch with David Carter-Johnson of Adams fame, who is setting up a new venture to help struggling retailers. More of that next week. We were at Quo Vadis and Michael Winner was sitting just behind us, with three blondes.
Dalton’s calling
Here’s a funny story. Yesterday afternoon while George was trying to stand up the story about Dalton Philips, Lisa was set the task of trying to find a picture of him. Where we actually found one was on the site of his parish church in Canada, and a good quality pic it was too. Not that there’s anything funny about him being religious, but I guess it shows that he is a pretty low-profile character. He’ll be needing to find a new parish somewhere in Yorkshire now.
Everything I’ve heard suggests he’s a good choice for Morrisons. Having a lengthy stint in Walmart’s failed German operation isn’t the best thing to have on your CV - although it hasn’t done David Wild any harm - but he is talked of very highly by everyone who knows him and for someone of 41 his reservoir of retail experience achieved in a diverse range of markets is extraordinary and will be a real asset.
What must be exciting for him is the huge potential which remains at Morrisons. Marc Bolland did a great job of putting it back on the straight and narrow but only - and quite intentionally - scratched the surface of the growth opportunities. It is still under-represented in the south, has no meaningful non-food offer, no online offer, no convenience stores and no international presence.
That’s not to say Philips should do all, or even any of these things - Bolland’s view was that there was still plenty of growth to go for in the core business, particularly as the Morrisons’ gospel spread south and the failed Safeway acquisiton was put to rest. But it does show what massive potential this rising retail star has at his fingertips.
I have to mention JJB and the appointments it announced this morning. Very sad David Jones’s illness means he can’t continue as chairman. He made some bad judgments but - despite the malicious slurs against him which dogged his tenure - there wouldn’t be a JJB today if it wasn’t for him.
As for the new appointments, the arrival of David Adams at a company is these days generally a sign it’s in dire straits. That’s not to say he’s not a good hire - quite the opposite, his experience with basketcases like Jessops will be hugely valuable for JJB.
But Matthew Pinsent? I yield to no-one in my admiration for what he achieved in his rowing career, but what can he bring to a company which spent all of last year teetering on the precipice? Sure he’s a highly successful sportsman, but since when did JJB sell oars? They’d have been better off putting Rafael Benitez on the board, he’ll be looking for a new job soon and at least knows about football.
Philips is new Morrisons boss
Crazy afternoon here today, as George broke the exclusive on the identity of Morrisons new chief executive. Dalton Philips is a name I’ve heard a few times, definitely identified as a rising star, and while I don’t know much about him I think he’s a good appointment, although it’s tough on Richard Pennycook. More to follow, tomorrow probably.
Tuff luck
Great night at the Retail Trust Dinner last night, and the charity managed to raise over £1m on the evening, a fantastic achievement. There was a terrific turnout of retailers, primarily from the fashion world, and the X-Factor themed Search for a Star format was really well done. An opera singer from H Samuel’s store in Ayr won and although she didn’t get my vote she was a worthy winner - all four of the finalists from stores around the country were genuinely outstanding singers.
I was sat between my old friend RIchard Fletcher, the Daily Telegraph’s business editor, and our very own Amy Shields - great company but I have to admit it was a bit jealous of George who found himself sitting next to none other than Phil Tufnell. By his own admission it was a bit wasted on George who has no interest in cricket, but I went over and had a good chat with Tuffers, who was a lovely fellow and quite well-oiled even at that early stage of the evening. He has the look and demeanour of a man who lives life to the full, to say the least.
On the retailer front a lot of the very biggest names were there and it was good to catch up with Philip Green, Stuart Rose, Theo Paphitis, Harold Tillman, Rob Templeman, John King and Terry Duddy among others. Rose came out with my favourite line - asked about Marc Bolland, he told Fletch and I “I’m going to start carrying a picture of him round with me to remind me what he looks like.”
There was a good turnout from M&S, and Steve Sharp seemed particularly miserable, although by way of explanation he did say that he’d read somewhere that yesterday was officially the most miserable day of the year. Theo was on good form, excited about his latest TV programme which is going to give suppliers access to the buyers at leading retailers, and cracking jokes at the expense of his long-suffering right-hand man Kypros Kyprianou.
So a triumph for Retail Trust and personally for its dynamic leader Nigel Rothband. Nights like last night don’t happen by themselves - they take months of tireless work, and it is a very slick operation. Certainly the evening is designed to extract as much money as possible out of everyone who goes, but having been up to Mill Hill to see the work it does at it’s homes for retired retailers, and the also work it does - particularly through its helpline - for people working in retail today who’ve hit hard times, there’s no doubt that it is a thoroughly deserving cause that everyone in retail should support.
Green fingers
There was so much going on at the end of last week that I didn’t have a chance to mention all of it. Last Wednesday we had Retail Week’s e-commerce directors’ club, when Boots multichannel director Tim Stacey gave the address. It was all off-record, so I can’t write about the speech or the questions he answered, but it was fascinating hearing around the table over dinner about the challenges facing ecommerce directors, particularly internally within their businesses, where many companies still seem to regard online as a cost rather than as the company’s biggest (or potentially biggest) store.
As one said to me, if a retailer’s biggest store was growing sales exponentially, the manager would get more staff hours to play with, but there almost seems to be an assumption that the online channel can continue to expand sales without the same investment. That sounds like a risky strategy to me, as continuing to invest and innovate is vital to staying ahead of the pack when it comes to online.
Then on Thursday it was off to London’s trendy Haymarket Hotel where B&Q was launching its new garden range, helped by none other than Alan Titchmarsh. The hotel’s pool area had been decked out spectacularly with garden furniture and plants - including some massive summer houses which must have been a nightmare to get down the stairs and assemble - and B&Q is making a real push for authority in the category, helped by the instantly recognisable Titchmarsh.
He seemed a nice guy, although understandably enough gets tired of people asking him gardening questions and avoids travelling by train as a result, because the person next to him will always try to engage him in conversation. They gave us a nice goodie bag of garden products to take home, but I subtly disposed of the bag of seed potatoes as they were proving a nuisance to carry around Oxford Street’s shops later on. I hope no one saw them and mistook them for a bomb.
Building up its presence in garden is a smart move for B&Q. Garden retail is one of the most fragmented sectors of retailing, and often the standards of retailing are relatively unsophisticated compared to other parts of the industry. When Tesco bought Dobbies a few years ago we thought that would unleash a wave of consolidation but that hasn’t hapenned.
I didn’t know this but B&Q is the UK’s biggest garden centre operator, but there is still market share there for the taking from indies and small multiples, and the scale of last week’s launch shows that it’s a big target for the giant Euan Sutherland and his team.
Sorry I Havant a clue
Surprise news yesterday that Anthony Thompson, the boss of Asda’s clothing brand George, has quit to run surfwear brand Fat Face. It’s a surprise because Fat Face’s sales are a tenth those of George, but apparently Thompson - whose CV includes senior roles at M&S and Gap - drives a VW camper van and is into the surf lifestyle. Sadly for him Fat Face isn’t based in Newquay but the rather less glamorous surroundings of Havant near Portsmouth, but given it’s private equity owned he’ll have been offered a terrific package.
Fat Face is a great brand but has become hampered by its debt burden, and having been led through two buyouts by Louise Barnes, I gather the sense was that a new impetus was needed at the top. It’s a fine business but needs to be aware of the danger of over-expansion - I was perplexed to see that a branch has opened at Euston station, no doubt for all those surf dudes heading to Birmingham or Liverpool to catch some waves.
We’ve had the judging day for the Oracle Retail Week Awards this morning, one of my favourite days of the Retail Week year. The quality of entries was better than ever, with almost all the major multiples represented on the shortlist, and that meant the debate was particularly healthy, but still very good humoured as always. We had nearly all our regular judges along, like Terry Duddy of Home Retail, Rob Templeman of Debenhams and Richard Pennycook of Morrisons, and it’s the time that retailers of their calibre take to study the entries and argue hard for the ones they rate that makes the awards the undeniable gold standard of UK retailing.
The Awards are on March 4 at the Grosvenor House and tables are nearly sold out - log on to the site to find out more, as always it will be the biggest night of the retail year.
On the subject of our events, I’m hugely excited that Plymouth’s self-styled Del Boy Chris Dawson of The Range is speaking at the Retail Week Conference, which precedes the awards on 3 and 4 March. He is a famously larger than life character and has really prospered through the recession. He alone should be a good reason to come, but with people like John Browett and Charlie Mayfield on the programme, it’s shaping up to be an unmissable event.
The good and bad of John Lewis service
I know there are quite a few readers who get fed up with all the positive stories we write about John Lewis on the website and in the magazine. I can see where they’re coming from but at the same time they are the only retailer which reports on trading weekly, through good times and bad, and you can’t argue that its performance has been outstanding, particularly in the run up to Christmas.
A lot of it is put down to John Lewis’s customer service, which can often be excellent. However, I sometimes hear anecdotally that the reality isn’t as good as the perception. And although I never use the magazine or website to settle personal scores, my experience buying, then exchanging a mattress from Peter Jones might be interesting in highlighting what’s good and not so good about John Lewis’s customer service.
First the good - the service in the store was terrific. Knowledgeable, no rush, and no hard sell. Genuinely inspired confidence. The delivery men were equally superb - on time, friendly and carerful. In all cases the service was really from the old school and just what you go to for John Lewis for.
Only downside was that, despite having tried the mattress in store, I didn’t like sleeping on it. My fault entirely, but luckily it came with a manufacturers guarantee that you could swap it for one with a different tension. Great, so i tried to call Peter Jones to make the exchange.
And that’s where things started to go wrong. Getting from the swithboard through to the furniture department was very difficult, and if I wasn’t cut off the phone just rang off. When I did get through, I was promised a call back, which never came, but I did get a letter through the post, that looked like a receipt. So it was in hand.
I tried to chase it but again getting through was impossible, but things looked up when I got a call last week promising delivery “next Tuesday, between 7 and 9″. Which, not unreasonably, I took as meaning yesterday. I got a confirmation letter, but that wasn’t much help because it had no date or time on it.
So yesterday I got up early, took all the bedding off, and waited. And waited. By 830 I got suspicious, so rang and the phone was answered immediately. Yes, my delivery would be there by 9, no problem.
Rang back at 905. “No, your delivery is next Tuesday,the 26th.” But I was told it was today, twice, the most recent time half an hour ago. “No, it’s definitely next week.” So I’ll be up early again next Tuesday, bedding off, but to be honest I’m still not over-confident. I’ll report back.
But my point, as well as getting a rant of my chest, was to say that this isn’t an isolated story. A lot of retailers get it wrong on service and delivery, but John Lewis gets it right more than most. Still, it isn’t perfect, and like any business where the performance is first class, needs to be sure it remains focussed on what made it so successful in the first place.
What next for Bhs?
You often hear Sir Philip Green showing off about Topshop but poor old Bhs barely gets a mention, unsurprisingly really as it’s the Cinderella of his portfolio of brands. Green finally admitted at the weekend that he is selling 10 Bhs stores to Primark but he still has getting on for 200 stores and it’s no secret the chain isn’t performing as well as its owner would like.
Go into the big city centre Bhs stores in places like Leeds, Manchester or Birmingham and it’s a pretty dispiriting experience, the stores looking like they haven’t been touched for years. The Oxford Street flagship is better, and actually the homewares assortment isn’t bad, but to get there you still have to walk through a forest of uninspired fashions for older people. But today’s older shoppers are people who grew up through the 60s - they don’t want to dress like their mothers did, and chains like Debenhams, Next and even M&S do a better job of meeting their needs.
Green says he remains committed to the brand and even plans to open more stores, and take advantage of the planning consent which allows food to be sold in most of the existing stores to introduce a convenience food offer. That’s not a bad idea but the problem at the moment is that in the bigger centres where convenience food would sell Bhs just doesn’t have the footfall of an M&S, for example.
The integration of Bhs into Arcadia under its tough new chief executive Ian Grabiner will mean the logical move of putting the more mature Arcadia brands like Wallis and Evans into the Bhs stores. That should definitely help,and also help cut Arcadia’s rent bill by enabling it to close smaller standalone stores for those brands.
Even so, if another Primark came along Green would no doubt bite their hands off if they offered to take another chunk of the stores off his hands. If it was anyone else you’d think a CVA would be an option, but I can’t see it - I think Green’s profile and pride makes that a non-starter.
Currying favour
It’s been a while since any DSGi trading statement was anything much to get excited about, but its Christmas update really stood out amid the flurry of retailers reporting yesterday. An 8% like for like jump may have been against weak comps but nevertheless shows that the steps that John Browett is taking to get the company into shape are starting to work.
The cerebral yet direct Browett’s style isn’t to everyone’s taste and he’s certainly gone through HQ in Hemel like a dose of salts, but the medicine seems to be working and there’s no question that the company has upped its game under his tenure. Over the last year the results of really thinking about its formats are coming through in the stores, and the latest refits are light years ahead of where the business was in the later days of John Clare’s reign - the combined Currys and PC World stores are a particularly good initiative. The once infamous customer service and experience are improving too.
I popped into my local Currys in Brixton just before Christmas, which I’d not been into since it was refurbed, and I was genuinely impressed with the transformation. The new fit outs are stylish with a lower density of product and room to explore and show off the product, with none of the high sales pressure which might have been associated with DSGi in the past. Multichannel and service offers are very prominent, but in the same understated and stylish manner of the rest of the store.
There’s plenty more to do but and I’m sure Browett would much rather Best Buy was not coming to the UK this year. But what the US giant’s plans for the UK have inadvertently done is given DSGi and its staff the biggest incentive they could ever need to get their own house in order. And it looks like that’s happening.
Gerry’s gone
Waterstone’s had a shocking Christmas and MD Gerry Johnson has paid the price and has left the business today.
It’s a move which will have the precious souls who work in the company’s stores celebrating in the aisles, as Johnson had become unpopular within the business, and parent company HMV’s chief executive Simon Fox has done the right thing - he probably should have done it six months earlier.
Personally I liked Gerry, although my view is probably clouded by the fact that he was a big cricket fan. The last time I had a proper chat with him was on the top deck of a 36 bus, where I’d bumped into him heading to the Oval for the Ashes decider last Summer.
He was never popular with the booksellers in his stores, but there was a bit of snobbery about that as his background - he came from Booker cash and carry - was as far removed from bookselling as you could imagine.
However, in recent months he’d started behaving a bit oddly, the clearest evidence of which was banning access to the Bookseller’s website for the company’s staff, which looked like a petty move. The disastrous launch of The Hub, the company’s new distribution centre, which compounded very weak sales trends, meant that Fox had no option but to make a change.
So what does his successor Dominic Myers do? Well, he doesn’t have to look far for inspiration, because many of the issues Waterstone’s faces affected HMV too. Fox has been very clever in reinventing HMV as a chain which is at the heart of entertainment in its broadest sense, with events in store, range extensions and tie ups with live venues.
Waterstone’s, in contrast, has lost what makes it distinctive, churning out best-sellers in a way which doesn’t give it a point of difference from either WHSmith on one hand or Amazon on the other. Giving it back a personality and re-establishing it as the place for book buying on the high street will be Myers’ biggest task, alongside sorting out the Hub.
The fact that he’s internal will be perceived by some as insufficiently radical, but means he has experience of HMV’s transformation and will be able to hit the ground running.
Some people are taking the disastrous sales figures as indicating the demise of high street bookselling. I hope and believe that’s wrong. E-readers notwithstanding, shoppers have far greater affinity with physical books than with physical CDs and DVDs, yet Fox has managed to reinvent HMV and give it a future at least into the medium term. Waterstone’s should, if anything, be an easier task.
