U K
B U S I N E S S
P A R K
home page


Retailing 1996
2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996

The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
Click here for further details

Greggs, the retail baker, is acquiring Birketts Holdings of Cumbria, which has 57 shops, for £3.2m. 31-Dec-1996 J Sainsbury is planning to set up a supermarket on the internet, developed in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard and offering a full range of goods. 28-Dec-1996 Tesco, the supermarket chain, is thought to be considering all-night trading at certain locations throughout the year, and could make a decision based on the level of success from all-night opening hours over the Christmas period. 24-Dec-1996 Asda, the supermarket chain, is planning to extend its campaign against price-fixing arrangements to other products, having recently broken such arrangements in books and drugs. 20-Dec-1996 Wickes, the DIY retailer, has announced a £53m rights issue and capital reconstruction in an attempt to revive its fortunes following the discovery of accounting irregularities in June. 13-Dec-1996 Harvey Nichols, the upmarket retailer with a new store in Leeds, is planning to add a further two stores, with possible locations including Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester. 13-Dec-1996 C&J Clark, the shoe company, is discussing the sale of its factory outlet operations in Somerset and the Lake District in order to focus on shoe manufacturing and retailing. 11-Dec-1996 Freemans, the mail-order company, is to offer a £1 lottery ticket voucher for every £10 spent by customers, having become an official National Lottery partner. 11-Dec-1996 Wax Lyrical, the candle retailer, is planning to open 8-12 stores a year and expand overseas with the appointment of franchisees. 11-Dec-1996 Asda, the supermarket chain, is considering the launch of doctors' services in its superstores, on contract to the National Health Service. 10-Dec-1996 Harrods has started offering its products in the US through the QVC home shopping channel. 03-Dec-1996 Littlewoods of the UK and Otto Versand of Germany have both expressed interest in launching a takeover bid for Freemans, Sears' mail order business which is estimated to be worth about £350m. 02-Dec-1996 Tesco and British Land are forming a £175m joint venture in which they will pool a number of retail properties, in a type of sale and leaseback arrangement which will unlock some of Tesco's capital. 29-Nov-1996 Safeway, the supermarket chain, is to launch an interest-bearing debit account service called ABC Bonus, in conjunction with Abbey National. 28-Nov-1996 Sovereign Land is planning a £20m retail and leisure development at Cardiff Bay, creating about 300 jobs. 27-Nov-1996 Optical Express is planning to acquire Specialeyes, the retail optician, for about £1.9m. 27-Nov-1996 Safeway is planning to set up 15 superstores and 4 supermarkets a year for the next two years, in a move which will create 3,500 full-time jobs. 22-Nov-1996 Marks & Spencer is test-marketing gold jewellery in 11 stores, and hopes to set up departments in 40 stores by next Christmas. 21-Nov-1996 Ikea is planning its first home furnishings store in the south west, having bought the Bristol stadium and Eastgate retail park. 19-Nov-1996 Formal Group, the menswear retailer, says it is in discussions with a number of companies which could boost the size and profitability of the group. 16-Nov-1996 Sears has sold its half share in the St Enoch shopping centre in Glasgow to Despa, the German property fund, for £80m. 15-Nov-1996 Harry Ramsden's, the fish and chip restaurant chain, is planning eight new franchised and joint venture restaurants, including four in Scotland, in a move which will create 1,000 new jobs. 14-Nov-1996 Kwik Save is planning a £300m restructuring which will result in the closure of 107 of its food stores, the loss of 1,900 jobs, and the revamp of its other 872 stores. 08-Nov-1996 Shaftesbury, the property company, is acquiring Carnaby Street, the London shopping street, for £90m. 08-Nov-1996 Majestic Wine, the chain of drinks warehouses, is raising £4.4m with a placing on the Alternative Investment Market, in order to fund the continued growth rate of about 8 new stores a year. 06-Nov-1996 Marks & Spencer is planning to take on 2,000 extra staff at its stores, in order to improve customer service. 06-Nov-1996 Lombard Tricity Finance has acquired the loan portfolio of United Utilities' Norweb retail business for £113m. 05-Nov-1996 Dawn 'Til Dusk is planning to double the size of its 35-strong chain of convenience stores in the north west, funded by a flotation on Aim which should raise £1.5m. 04-Nov-1996 J Sainsbury is aiming to win back market share from Tesco by offering Extra Reward Points for its loyalty cards on over 200 products. 02-Nov-1996 Body Shop, the environmentally-friendly cosmetics retailer, is to revamp its stores and stop selling some of its cheaper green-label products in order to attract higher spending customers. 01-Nov-1996 Marks & Spencer is to launch a range of vitamin and mineral supplements in its first step into the healthcare market, a move seen as a threat to Boots. 29-Oct-1996 Watson & Philip has announced plans to convert all of Total Oil's petrol site convenience stores in the UK into its Alldays format. 29-Oct-1996 J Sainsbury is linking with Bank of Scotland to set up Sainsbury's Bank, which will start providing telephone banking services in its supermarkets from early 1997. 26-Oct-1996 General Nutrition Centres of the US is opening its first UK health food store in Bristol, and plans to set up 400 high street stores over the next four years. 24-Oct-1996 Asda has bought a superstore in Havant, Hampshire, from the Co-operative Society for undisclosed terms. 24-Oct-1996 The Office of Fair Trading is to refer price fixing in the non-prescription drugs market to the restrictive trade practices court, a move which could result in a price war in pharmacies. 19-Oct-1996 Marks & Spencer is planning to launch a franchise chain in Australia, initially centred in Sydney. 18-Oct-1996 DFS Furniture is to open eight more stores this year and believes the format could be expanded to 100 stores throughout the country. 17-Oct-1996 Boots is to open its first Boots the Chemists store in the Irish Republic next month, in a Dublin shopping centre, and more are expected to follow. 16-Oct-1996 Tie Rack is to set up a new chain of outlets selling luggage with wheels, following a trial at Heathrow airport and Waterloo station. 16-Oct-1996 Majestic Wine, the drinks warehouse chain, is planning to raise about £4m by joining the Alternative Investment Market in order to fund the opening of eight warehouses a year. 12-Oct-1996 Boots is to open chemist shops in Japan, Thailand and the Netherlands on a trial basis, as well as a chain in Ireland. 11-Oct-1996 Laura Ashley, the clothing and furnishings retailer, is to take back control of its distribution from Federal Express at a cost of about £1m. 09-Oct-1996 Thorntons, the chocolate maker and retailer, is planning to invest £30m in 90 new shops by 2000, creating 550 jobs. 09-Oct-1996 Legal & General is preparing plans for a £500m shopping centre development at Bracknell which would create 3,000 jobs. 08-Oct-1996 Car Supermarkets has begun setting up a national network of large used car sales sites, with the aim of selling 250,000 vehicles a year at fixed prices. 08-Oct-1996 Moss Bros, the menswear retailer, is planning to open a further 11 shops in the second half of this year. 08-Oct-1996 Kingfisher is in discussions to acquire the Norweb white-goods chain of shops from United Utilities. 07-Oct-1996 Unichem has acquired three community pharmacies in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and London, for £1.9m. 04-Oct-1996 The planned flotation of the Harrods department store has been delayed by the Fayed brothers for undisclosed reasons. 03-Oct-1996 JJB Sports, the sports goods retailer, is to open a further 25 stores this year and has signed an agreement with Tesco in which it will lease space in new Metro stores. 03-Oct-1996 House of Fraser, the department store concern, has confirmed it could close up to 10 of its 51 stores in order to eliminate rising losses. 02-Oct-1996 Oasis, the women's wear retailer, is to open two stores, six concessions and a new headquarters in the second half of this year. 01-Oct-1996 Kwik Save has seen its shares fall to their lowest level in 8 years, as analysts believe the troubled food retailer could be preparing to close 100-300 of its 1,000 stores. 26-Sep-1996 John David Sports, the chain of 61 sportswear shops, is raising £9m in a share placing in order to fund the opening of 25 new shops a year over the next decade. 25-Sep-1996 J Sainsbury is acquiring 12 superstores in the US from Royal Ahold for $52m, a move which will make it the second biggest food retailer in Connecticut. 24-Sep-1996 T&S Stores plans to double its chain of convenience stores to 500 outlets by the year 2000, and also aims to have 50 stores operating on a 24-hour basis by the end of 1996. 24-Sep-1996 Waterstone's is planning to open the UK's first book superstore in Glasgow next spring. 23-Sep-1996 Wyevale Garden Centres is acquiring two garden centres in Timperley, Cheshire, for a total of £1.95m. 23-Sep-1996 Signet has rejected an offer from Apax for its 600-store jewellery business, saying that the deal would not have provided sufficient value for shareholders. 20-Sep-1996 Wm Morrison Supermarkets is planning an expansion programme with the opening of four more stores in 1997 and the creation of 3,200 jobs. 20-Sep-1996 Sears is planning to open four more Selfridges department stores in city centres such as Birmingham and Glasgow, but they are unlikely to open until 2000. 18-Sep-1996 Signet has still failed to find a buyer for its jewellery shops and is now said to be considering keeping the Ernest Jones and H Samuel chains. 17-Sep-1996 J Sainsbury, the supermarket, is expanding the features of its Reward customer loyalty card to offer free phone calls through British Telecom and the opportunity for cardholders to make donations to the NSPCC charity. 12-Sep-1996 The introduction of Sunday trading has made very little difference to the sales and profits of retailers, according to a survey commissioned by Healey & Baker. 11-Sep-1996 Kingsbury Group, the furniture retailer, is planning to open five more stores in the second half of this year. 11-Sep-1996 Wickes, the do-it-yourself retailer, is now said to have overstated its profits by about £50m over the past four years, due to the way it treated suppliers' rebates in its accounts. 10-Sep-1996 Safeway is planning to open 100 small supermarkets on BP petrol station forecourts, in a £100m joint venture which will create up to 2,000 jobs. 07-Sep-1996 Booker, the cash and carry group, has made a £264m takeover bid for its main rival Nurdin & Peacock. 05-Sep-1996 Iceland, the frozen food retailer, is planning to open 31 new stores this year and 25 next year, and is investing in a sales-based ordering system. 04-Sep-1996 Allders has bought eight department stores from Owen Owen for £24m. 02-Sep-1996 Body Shop International is discussing the acquisition of Craigross Holdings, which operates six Body Shop franchises in Scotland. 31-Aug-1996 Superdrug is planning to set up a further 250 in-store pharmacies over the next four years at selected branches of its 710-store network. 27-Aug-1996 Capital Shopping Centres is introducing a Visa credit card at the Lakeside retail centre in Thurrock, Essex, making it the latest in a line of retailers moving into financial services. 20-Aug-1996 Argos, the catalogue retailer, is planning a chain of 70 stores in the Netherlands with the first opening in 1998, its first move into continental Europe. 20-Aug-1996 John David Sports, the sportswear retailer, is planning a flotation in the autumn with a value of up to £100m. 19-Aug-1996 N Brown, the mail order concern, is looking to expand with a big acquisition, and also wants to decrease its reliance on catalogues for older women. 15-Aug-1996 J Sainsbury is in discussions with Royal Ahold of the Netherlands to buy 12 superstores in the US. 13-Aug-1996 Calvin Klein of the US is planning to open two fashion stores in London next year, followed by eight further stores in other cities. 12-Aug-1996 J Sainsbury has seen a slight revival in its market share since the June launch of its loyalty card, and now has 5.5m cardholders with 100,000 new cards a week. 12-Aug-1996 Software City has opened in Leeds, the first of 50 software superstores planned over the next four years. 08-Aug-1996 J Sainsbury is increasing its stake in Giant Food, the US supermarket group, to 20% at a cost of $62m, and may be preparing to take full control. 07-Aug-1996 Allders is in discussions to buy up to ten department stores from Owen Owen. 05-Aug-1996 J Sainsbury has acquired full control of its Homebase DIY chain with the acquisition of GIB's 25% stake. 02-Aug-1996 Elf of France is planning to launch a chain of food shops on UK high streets, in support of an expansion of its Le Shop chain on petrol station forecourts. 30-Jul-1996 Littlewoods is preparing the nationwide launch of its Index Extra mail order catalogue, supported by a £16m advertising campaign this autumn. 24-Jul-1996 Apax Partners, the venture capitalist, is said to be about to buy Signet's two jewellery chains - Ernest Jones and H Samuel - for £280m. 23-Jul-1996 Tesco has decided not to bid for Docks de France, the French retailer facing a £2.1bn hostile takeover bid from Auchan. 23-Jul-1996 Burton, the clothes retailer, is buying Innovations, the direct mail order concern, for £45m, a move which will give Burton a new channel to sell its brands. 20-Jul-1996 Finelist Group has made a £46m recommended bid for Motor World Group, the car parts retailer. 19-Jul-1996 Uno, the chain of 9 three-piece suite superstores, has finalised its Alternative Investment Market flotation with a value of £18.8m. 17-Jul-1996 Monsoon, the fashion chain, has postponed its £250m flotation following a dispute with BZW, the sponsor and broker. 11-Jul-1996 Dixons, the electrical retailer, is planning to open 10 Currys superstores and 10 PC Worlds this year, creating 2,500 jobs. 11-Jul-1996 Next, the clothing retailer, has acquired a 30% stake in Cotton Traders, the leisurewear concern, for undisclosed terms. 11-Jul-1996 Budgen plans to open ten new supermarkets and ten smaller outlets at Q8 and Mobil petrol stations this year. 10-Jul-1996 Tesco is said to be considering a bid for Docks de France, the French retailer undergoing a hostile approach from the Auchan group, in a move that would cost up to £2.5bn. 09-Jul-1996 Safeway, the supermarket chain, may move into the electricity supply business when the market is deregulated in 1998, either by acting as an agent and setting up kiosks in its stores or by using a more direct approach and buying electricity from generators to sell on to the public. 05-Jul-1996 Redcar's local council has chosen the Teesland Development Company as preferred developer for a £20m retail development in Redcar town centre. 05-Jul-1996 Boots is planning a further 110 small stores and out-of-town chemist stores over the next four years in a £300m investment programme, and is also preparing to launch a loyalty card. 03-Jul-1996 MFI, the furniture retailer, is considering plans to move into Spain and Portugal. 02-Jul-1996 C&J Clark, the shoe group, is closing three factories - in Plymouth, Shepton Mallet and Cumbria - and cutting back its Somerset head office, with the loss of 1,400 jobs. 02-Jul-1996 Escom is to shut 65 of its high street computer stores in order to reduce losses, but will retain 170 outlets. 02-Jul-1996 Boots has bought back about 5% of its shares for £300m, but has retained enough funds for making acquisitions in healthcare and investments in retailing. 28-Jun-1996 Asda is planning to open eight new stores this year, creating 3,000 jobs. 28-Jun-1996 Kingfisher has increased its stake in BUT, the French electrical retailer, from 20% to 26%, for £25m. 27-Jun-1996 Harvey Nichols, the London department store, plans to open a store in Leeds in October and the first of several restaurants in London in September. 27-Jun-1996 Wickes, the DIY retailer, has seen its shares suspended following the discovery of major accounting problems concerning "the timing of recognition of profit from supplier contributions". 26-Jun-1996 UniChem, the pharmaceuticals retailer, is linking up with United Drug of Dublin to move further into the market for pre-wholesaling, which involves acting as a distribution agent for manufacturers. 25-Jun-1996 Marks & Spencer is introducing cheap personal loans of up to £3,000 for customers who use its charge card. 24-Jun-1996 Whittard of Chelsea, the speciality tea and coffee retailer, is planning to open 15 branches a year for the foreseeable future. 22-Jun-1996 Littlewoods Stores is planning a further 40 stores across the country and a distribution centre in Burton on Trent, creating 3,000 jobs over the next four years. 20-Jun-1996 Watson & Philip is planning to expand its Alldays chain of convenience stores to 540, with a further 100 outlets this year. 19-Jun-1996 Carpetright is planning to expand its chain of carpet stores from 200 to 260 by next April. 19-Jun-1996 Sainsbury has introduced a loyalty bonus discount card, called the Reward Card, which will allow customers to collect British Airways air miles. 18-Jun-1996 Edinburgh Development and Investment has announced plans for a £100m shopping mall under Princes Street in Edinburgh. 14-Jun-1996 Monsoon, the fashion retailer, is to seek a stock market listing that will value it at about £250m. 13-Jun-1996 Richardson Developments has announced plans for a £90m out-of-town shopping centre in York. 12-Jun-1996 Harrods, the London department store, may be floated in order to fund expansion, and could be valued at up to £2bn. 10-Jun-1996 Littlewoods plans to spend £35m opening between 40 and 70 Index catalogue shops over the next four years. 07-Jun-1996 Cullens Holdings is to start opening food stores at Mobil petrol stations. 05-Jun-1996 Tesco is to add debit and interest payment facilities to its Clubcard loyalty card scheme in direct competition with high street banks. 04-Jun-1996 WH Smith is said to be planning an overhaul of its 550 stores in order to improve profitability, a move which could result in 1,000 job losses. 03-Jun-1996 Sketchley, the dry-cleaning group, is aiming to build up its textile services to represent 75% of its business, with retail taking the remaining 25%, funded by a £22m rights issue. 01-Jun-1996 Facia, the troubled retail group, is said to be in takeover discussions with Texas American Group, the US leisure concern. 31-May-1996 Apax, the venture capitalist, is thought to be the only remaining bidder for Signet's UK jewellery shops, expected to be sold for £280m. 31-May-1996 Moss Bros, the menswear retailer, is to open a further 10 stores this year, to bring the total to 142. 31-May-1996 Whittard, the coffee and tea retailer, is planning to float on the Alternative Investment Market next month, and expects to double its 82 stores over the next five years. 27-May-1996 Boots is to pull out of DIY retailing as it is looking for a buyer for its Fads and Homestyle chains and its share in Do It All. 27-May-1996 Liberty is to close its 20 regional stores, with the loss of 350 jobs, in order to reverse declining profits. 23-May-1996 Marks & Spencer plans to open a further two stores and refurbish 14 in the UK this year, and create over 1,000 jobs. 22-May-1996 Allied Carpets, the carpet retailer, is planning to float in London in the summer, at a value of over £200m. 20-May-1996 Argyll Group is to change its name to Safeway and transfer its 110 Presto outlets to the Safeway format. 16-May-1996 The Office of Fair Trading is looking at the possibility of taking action against the discount pricing of supermarkets, as small high-street shops fear being driven out of business. 15-May-1996 Cantors, the furnishings retailer, is discussing an acquisition, possibly a small out-of-town furnishings group. 11-May-1996 N Brown says it is still interested in buying Littlewoods' mail order business, despite last year's failed attempt. 10-May-1996 La Senza, the underwear retailer from Canada, plans to open 152 new UK shops funded by a float on the Alternative Investment Market that should raise £19m. 03-May-1996 Signet, the jewellery retailer, has rejected a £150m bid from Argos, leaving Goldsmiths as the company most likely to succeed in acquiring Signet. 01-May-1996 Marks & Spencer is to open its first Czech franchise in Prague later this year, with more cities to follow in the next few years. 01-May-1996 Out-of-town superstores will account for about 33% of UK retail sales by the year 2000, compared to 28% in 1995 and 12% in 1985, according to a report from Verdict. 30-Apr-1996 Powerstore, the electrical retailer, has been placed in administration due to cashflow problems and tough competition in the market. 30-Apr-1996 Whitecross Group, the high street dentists chain, plans to open 10 new practices over the next three years, funded by a share placing on the Alternative Investment Market in May. 30-Apr-1996 Safeway is to introduce Shop & Go to all its 150 superstores, a system which enables customers to work out their own bills with the use of a hand-held scanner before they reach the check-out. 27-Apr-1996 Rhino Group, the software and video games retailer, is responding to increased losses by refurbishing its stores and introducing new stock control systems. 26-Apr-1996 DFS Furniture, the furniture retailer, is to open four more stores this year, with three around London and one in Plymouth. 26-Apr-1996 JJB Sports, the sports retailer, plans to open a further 15 superstores and 20 high street stores this year. 25-Apr-1996 Reflex of Ireland plans to raise £1.2m in a share offer to fund the development of a chain of internet cafes in the UK. 24-Apr-1996 Powerstore, the electrical retailer, is in crisis talks with creditors as it tries to stave off administration, which would threaten 1,300 jobs. 23-Apr-1996 House of Fraser may sell or close up to 12 of its 51 stores this year as part of a move to boost the performance of the department store group. 19-Apr-1996 Laura Ashley, the fashion and furnishings retailer, is planning to restructure by changing its products and distribution chain and shaking up its manufacturing activities. 19-Apr-1996 La Senza, the lingerie retailer, is to float on the Alternative Investment Market, raising £20m to expand its outlets from 22 to 174 over the next 4 years. 19-Apr-1996 Tesco is in discussions with the National Westminster Bank about launching a credit card under the Tesco brand name to be offered to the 8m members of its Clubcard loyalty scheme. 18-Apr-1996 Tesco plans to open 24 new stores this year, including 12 compact stores, 4 Metro stores and 8 superstores, thus creating 4,000 new jobs. 17-Apr-1996 Asda is approaching the European Commission in its attempt to remove the legal price fixing agreement that exists on over-the-counter medicines. 17-Apr-1996 Tie Rack, the tie and fashion accessories retailer, plans to open 50 new outlets this year, mainly overseas. 17-Apr-1996 CINVen, the venture capitalist, and Argos are now thought to be among the bidders for the H Samuel and Ernest Jones jewellery chains being sold by Signet. 09-Apr-1996 Dixons, the electrical retailer, is planning a £100m expansion focusing on its PC World and The Link outlets, and creating 4,000 jobs over the next two years. 07-Apr-1996 Tesco is to recruit 4,500 mainly part-time staff to help customers with their shopping. 06-Apr-1996 The offer for sale of the Signet jewellery chains - Ernest Jones and H Samuel - is said to have attracted seven interested bidders, including Goldsmiths. 04-Apr-1996 City Centre Restaurants plans to add another 50 outlets this year, with emphasis on its newer chains rather than the established Deep Pan Pizza and Garfunkels. 04-Apr-1996 The £200m White City shopping development in London is now expected to go ahead following a move by Chelsfield, the property company, to gain control of all the land. 03-Apr-1996 B&Q, the DIY retailer, has joined Tesco's Clubcard loyalty scheme, and will offer points on the scheme for six months. 02-Apr-1996 Facia, the private retailer with 1,000 stores, has denied that financial problems were behind a move to renegotiate contracts with all its landlords. 01-Apr-1996 The government is proposing to ease the rules on late night shopping, making it easier for garage shops and convenience stores to sell groceries at night. 30-Mar-1996 Next, the clothes retailer, is expanding its franchise operation from the Middle East into east Asia. 29-Mar-1996 Wm Morrison Supermarkets has no plans to open new stores as it expects a difficult trading year, but hopes to improve sales through continued refurbishment and growth in own-label goods. 29-Mar-1996 Booker, the cash and carry group, plans to grow organically and by acquiring warehouses but has not ruled out the possibility of a takeover. 29-Mar-1996 Kingfisher is looking for savings of £20m a year at B&Q, the DIY chain, through improved presentation of products, better stock control and paying more attention to the supply chain. 28-Mar-1996 Iceland, the frozen food retailer, plans to add another 40 stores this year and is experimenting with smaller outlets of about 3,200 sq ft. 27-Mar-1996 Marks & Spencer is preparing plans to open stores in Korea, Taiwan and Australia, from its regional base in Hong Kong. 27-Mar-1996 Hamleys, the toy retailer, is considering new town centre stores abroad, starting with either east Asia or the Gulf. 27-Mar-1996 Upton & Southern Holdings is to open a department store in Hartlepool, and aims to open one or two more, probably in the north east. 27-Mar-1996 Retail activity reached its highest level for over a year in February according to research group NTC, which could indicate a good summer for shops. 23-Mar-1996 Fortnum & Mason is to seek planning permission to expand its Piccadilly, London, store across two adjacent buildings. 23-Mar-1996 Panther Securities, the property investor, is trying to gain control of Elys (Wimbledon), the department store company. 21-Mar-1996 Allied Carpets, the chain of 200 carpet stores, is said to be planning a flotation later this year, valuing it at over £200m. 20-Mar-1996 Dickson Concepts of Hong Kong is to sell 49.9% of its stake in Harvey Nichols, the London store, in a placing next month. 19-Mar-1996 Waitrose own-label products have been launched in Japan through the Peacock chain. 16-Mar-1996 Casino, the French multiple, plans to expand the number of Spar stores in France from 300 to 2,000 in three years. 16-Mar-1996 Littlewoods is reorganising its retail distribution with a new distribution centre in the Midlands replacing the three existing ones. 15-Mar-1996 Thorntons, the chocolate company, is to relocate about 100 of its high street stores, as its refurbished stores are seeing 8% higher sales. 13-Mar-1996 Tesco is extending the use of the Clubcard loyalty scheme to its petrol stations, a move likely to intensify the petrol price war. 12-Mar-1996 Sketchley, the dry-cleaning chain, is to close 160 of its 720 outlets with the loss of 500 jobs, as part of a repositioning following last year's hot summer. 12-Mar-1996 Colorvision, the television retailer, has seen a big fall in sales since the OFT withdrew its consumer credit licenses, and it is now expected to seek further meetings with the OFT as part of an appeal against the ruling. 11-Mar-1996 Argos is to install Card Clear's Hot Card broadcast system in its stores, which checks for lost or stolen credit cards. 11-Mar-1996 Lidl plans to open one or two stores a week during 1996 giving it 140 discount stores by the year end. 09-Mar-1996 United Norwest is planning a £30m investment in its co-op stores, including a new superstore in Oldham, 50 store refurbishments and the expansion of its Late Shop chain. 09-Mar-1996 C&J Clark is to combine its retail and wholesale shoe activities with the loss of 90 jobs. 08-Mar-1996 The Advertising Standards Authority has criticised Asda for not honouring an offer to redeem money-off vouchers from other stores to two shoppers. 06-Mar-1996 Storehouse plans to open a Bhs franchised shop in Shanghai in an agreement with Hutchison Whampoa, with further stores to follow in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. 06-Mar-1996 Body Shop International has scrapped plans to go private because future growth would have been hit by the high level of borrowings needed. 05-Mar-1996 Littlewoods Home Shopping Group is to improve customer credit management by using electoral roll and credit information supplied by Equifax Europe. 04-Mar-1996 Asprey, the jeweller, is planning to expand in north America and the Asia-Pacific, and is sponsoring the Ferrari Formula 1 racing team. 02-Mar-1996 MFI is to convert all its 185 furniture outlets to the Homeworks format over the next few years. 02-Mar-1996 The government is expected to approve plans for a £250m plan to redevelop the Bull Ring shopping centre in Birmingham by doubling the retail space and creating one of the UK's biggest indoor shopping centres. 29-Feb-1996 WH Smith has ordered its shops to increase the discount received from local publishers from 35% to 48%, a move which is likely to anger publishers. 26-Feb-1996 Gieves, the Saville Row tailor, has bought a 49.5% stake in Knickerbox, the 54-strong chain of underwear stores. 23-Feb-1996 Thorn EMI is looking for a buyer for its Fona chain of 53 music and consumer electronics stores in Denmark. 23-Feb-1996 Sears plans to open a Selfridges department store in Manchester by the end of 1998, its first outside London. 21-Feb-1996 Argyll Group, the food retailer, is pulling out of the European Retail Alliance, the marketing programme started in 1989 with Casino of France and Royal Ahold of the Netherlands. 21-Feb-1996 PizzaExpress plans to open 20 new restaurants this year, mainly company-owned. 20-Feb-1996 Beale has bought Whitakers, the Bolton department store, for £1.1m. 20-Feb-1996 Asda is to roll out the use of the Fastlane computer system which reduces queues at checkouts by informing managers when extra tills will need to be opened. 19-Feb-1996 Paul Eyre Carpets, the 53-store carpet chain, is to close with the loss of about 500 jobs. 17-Feb-1996 Food from Britain is considering a plan to start assisting retailers with their expansion moves in Europe by offering analysis of overseas markets. 17-Feb-1996 Booker is now looking for new cash and carry sites, having spent the last few years with about 160 outlets. 17-Feb-1996 J Sainsbury has received planning permission for the first 2 of 7 stores that it is planning in Northern Ireland in a £100m investment. 15-Feb-1996 There was a 4% increase in the retailer private label business in 1995, with Sainsbury in the lead with a 66% private label share, according to Nielsen. 10-Feb-1996 Facia, the retail group which has bought the Saxone and Curtess shoe chains, is in trouble with Companies House as it is almost six months late filing its annual return. 06-Feb-1996 Sears is cutting 300 jobs from its shoe division following the recent sale of the Saxone and Curtess chains. 06-Feb-1996 J Sainsbury is to continue with its aggressive pricing promotions into February. 03-Feb-1996 Hanson is to close 195 Powerhouse electrical retailing shops with the loss of up to 2,300 jobs. 03-Feb-1996 Capital & Regional Properties is buying Wood Green Shopping City, the London shopping centre, for £33m. 03-Feb-1996 Stewart's Crazy Prices is selling seven of its 42 Northern Ireland stores, with Iceland rumoured to be the buyer. 03-Feb-1996 Pets at Home Superstores plans to expand its pet store chain from 16 to 50 over the next two years. 03-Feb-1996 Compass has acquired rights to the Harry Ramsden fish and chip shop brand and plans to open 15 new shops, mainly at airports. 30-Jan-1996 Storehouse is rumoured to be about to buy the Children's World chain from Boots. 29-Jan-1996 Colorvision has been deemed by the OFT to be unfit to offer credit deals to customers, which could affect half its business. 27-Jan-1996 There was a 28% fall in crime against retailers in 1995 according to a survey by the British Retail Consortium. 25-Jan-1996 WH Smith is looking to cut labour costs with possible redundancies and closures, following a fall in interim profits. 25-Jan-1996 Watson & Philip aims to set up a further 100 Alldays convenience stores, which would increase its network to over 550. 24-Jan-1996 Somerfield, the supermarket chain, may be floated soon so that bankers can get back some of the money they lent. 22-Jan-1996 Marks & Spencer is moving into Germany, with a Cologne store due to open next autumn. 22-Jan-1996 Cantors, the furniture retailer, plans to close a further 20 high street shops in the next 18 months. 20-Jan-1996 Costcutter, the York-based symbol retailer, is planning to launch a franchise operation in an unnamed east European country. 20-Jan-1996 Musgrave of Ireland is moving into Northern Ireland with the purchase of four shopping centres and a supermarket from J&J Haslett. 20-Jan-1996 Victoria Wine is acquiring 21 Thos Peatling Fine Wines outlets from Greene King. 19-Jan-1996 JJB Sports is to open seven new high street shops and 15 superstores, and is to open a new warehouse and distribution centre in the summer. 18-Jan-1996 Budgens is introducing a Visa credit card giving up to 5% discount, in a challenge to the new loyalty cards offered by the large food retailers. 18-Jan-1996 Sears is planning to open at least one new Selfridges store in the north of England, and eventually plans to have a chain of department stores across the country. 14-Jan-1996 CRS is launching a new own-label range and restyling its logo for its 100 Lo-Cost stores. 13-Jan-1996 Sainsbury is said to be planning a new loyalty card having started trials with Catalina, the electronic incentive schemes concern. 13-Jan-1996 The UK wholesale grocery market was worth £13.67bn in 1994, with £9bn going to the cash and carry sector, according to a report from IGD. 13-Jan-1996 Marks & Spencer may extend its new food delivery scheme to central London branches. 13-Jan-1996 Texaco will soon decide whether to start selling beer at its forecourts nationwide, following a trial. 13-Jan-1996 Goldsmiths may make a £280m bid for the Ernest Jones and H Samuel jewellery chains that Signet is selling. 13-Jan-1996 Argos, the catalogue retailer, had a 8% rise in pre-Christmas sales compared to the previous year. 13-Jan-1996 Sears plans to dispose of its Saxone and Curtess shoe chains and Millets and Sears Retail Group. 12-Jan-1996 Signet is looking to sell the H Samuel and Ernest Jones jewellery chains in order to reduce debt. 12-Jan-1996 Tesco has announced the first joint Clubcard promotion with another company - Thomson Holidays - in which customers gain card points for booking a holiday. 12-Jan-1996 Carpetright is increasing market share and has plans to have about 20 Carpet Depot superstores by the end of the year. 12-Jan-1996 Kingfisher is acquiring a 20% stake in BUT, the French electrical and furniture retailer, for £59m. 11-Jan-1996 Laura Ashley Holdings is stopping a profit-related pay scheme which will cut the net pay of UK staff. 11-Jan-1996 LVMH of France has acquired a minority stake in Allders, the department store company, but denies it is planning to launch a bid. 10-Jan-1996 Marks & Spencer is withdrawing a batch of clothing incorrectly labelled as UK-made but in fact made in Morocco. 05-Jan-1996 J Sainsbury has launched a January Savers promotion, reducing 200 prices by up to 50%, following a similar move by Iceland. 02-Jan-1996 New Look, the 323-store fashion chain, has been sold to institutional investors for £170m. 02-Jan-1996 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. Click here for further details Copyright UK Business Park 1995-2007