NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF
BHETA’s networking forum on September 26 provided insight into routes to market for suppliers. ManoMano asked for range, competitive prices and the ability to ‘wow’ customers. Selco highlighted added value areas like tool hire, and extended ranges, and KPMG predicted that Brexit talks will last two to three years and businesses must be “leaner and meaner”. Poundland has announced that it will be the first retailer in the country to accept the old pound coins after they are taken out of circulation on October 15. Consumers will be able to purchase products at the high street retailer for an extra two weeks rather than having to join long queues in banks or post offices over coming weeks. Timber and builders merchant Covers invited local Conservative MP Gillian Keegan to cut the ribbon, officially opening its new-look Home Ideas store in Chichester. The store had undergone an extensive redevelopment programme to make it easier for customers to navigate and offers a wide number of new products. Thornbury hardware store has used funding from HSBC to acquire its premises outright. Hawkins of Thornbury has acquired a property that includes the DIY merchants, space for two offices and three units that are sub-let to other businesses. The decision to buy the premises came after the building’s freehold became available in late 2016. Homewares retailer Dunelm will move into the new Clock Tower Retail Park in Chelmsford this December, creating 100 new jobs as part of the move. Open seven days a week, the new store will stock homewares, furniture and garden products and feature a separate mezzanine floor and a Pausa café. The HTA has launched an e-learning module on Xylella fastidiosa, providing plantarea and garden retail staff with the latest information about the plant disease that is presenting a huge threat to the industry. The module is available for free and is a direct action from the emergency Xylella meeting held at the HTA offices.
2 DIY WEEK 13 OCTOBER 2017 DFS profits slashed by 22%
Sofa giant DFS announced a huge annual profit decrease in its full-year results for 2017, amid a what it described as a “challenging” year. Pre-tax profits at DFS, which accounts for a quarter of the £3billion upholstered furniture market, fell 22.3% to
£50.1million in the 12 months to July 29. EBITDA was down 12.7% to £82.4million. DFS chief executive officer Ian Filby said: “It was a tough three or four months but the market tends to balance itself out over a longer period. That appears to be happening this year.”
The shares, which fell sharply in June after a profits warning, were down 6% or 14.25p to 210.75p when its results were released on October 5.
DFS is expected to add another three stores over the coming year, as well as complete the acquisition of 37 Sofology shops, once regulatory clearance has been given. It is also rolling out a licensing partnership with retail brand Joules. Mr Filby said of these developments: “We have continued to make good strategic progress across all our key areas of growth, while our financial performance reflects the current challenges of the UK furniture market.”
The slowdown in trading in the second half compared with 7% gross sales growth at the half-year stage. Sales across the full financial year increased by 1.1% to £990.8million from £980.4million.
ASA rules that Wickes and Better Bathrooms sale ads are misleading…
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld challenges against Wickes and Better Bathrooms that claim adverts for their respective kitchen and bathroom sales misled consumers. Wickes was pulled up about an advert on its website on May 9, which offered 50% off kitchen units. According to the ASA, the complainant challenged whether the savings claim was misleading and could be substantiated. In its defence, Wickes stated that the dates
of the sale and the period over which the higher prices were available were clearly set out on the same web page on which the ad appeared. However, the ASA upheld the challenge because it felt that consumers were likely to understand ‘50% off kitchen units’ to represent a “genuine saving against the usual selling price for the units at the time the ad appeared”. The Better Bathrooms ruling
related to a complaint from rival firm Victoria Plum which said the claim ‘Up to 70% off’ in the ads
was misleading because only a few products were discounted by that amount. It said that the claim ‘Sale must end on the 31st of January’ was misleading, because the sale was extended into February 2017. Better Bathrooms said the sale was extended on February 1, due to demand. The ASA upheld Victoria Plum’s challenge, concluding that substantiation provided by Better Bathrooms “did not show that a significant proportion” of sale items were discounted by 70%”.
… but Scotts fails in challenge of Westland Safelawn ad
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company challenged Westland Horticulture’s viral ad promoting its Safelawn product, questioning whether its claim that lawncare item was “safe for children and pets” was misleading. The complaint was raised with the ASA last month over a YouTube ad and a website, www.
gardenhealth.com, advertising SafeLawn, Westland’s natural lawn feed product, seen in April 2017. Scotts questioned whether the text that appeared on the website, stating that the product is ‘safe for children and pets’ but adding that ‘it is good practice to store out of reach in a dry, frost-free place’, could be viewed as misleading. The rival lawn and garden products firm also challenged a voice over on
Basildon Bunnings
The full-year increase was driven by a much better performance at the Dwell and Sofa Workshop brands, which offset a 0.6% decrease in DFS revenues. Dwell opened 15 stores and a new national warehouse in the year, doubling the size of its retail network. The company said it would continue to invest heavily in marketing spend.
It saw some media cost inflation early in the financial year, but this has since reversed and the company expects the deflationary trend to persist into 2018. Many are looking at the weaker pound as a reason for the loss in profits, with slower consumer demand and tighter household income since the EU referendum last year. However, Mr Filby concluded that the business has “excellent prospects for the long term.”
opens its doors
the You Tube ad, which stated “the safer way to feed your lawn” and on-screen text which read, “Safety compared to lawn weed & moss killer fertilisers that contain pesticides”, again suggesting the claims were misleading and could not be backed up. However, the ASA did not uphold the challenges and said it was satisfied that Westland could
substantiate its claims based on independent testing assessing the hazard of exposure and toxicity of the product.
Explaining its decision not to uphold Scotts’ complaint about the ad and website, the ASA considered that consumers would understand the claims to mean that using the product as directed would not cause harm to people or animals.
Australian home improvement retailer Bunnings Warehouse officially opened its doors to its first store in Essex this week on the site of the former Homebase in Basildon. The overhauled store on the London Road in Vange, occupies a footprint of 57,000sq ft and stocks more than 30,000 home improvement and garden products. Like other Bunnings Warehouse stores to have opened this year, the Essex branch boasts a garden centre and services such as paint mixing, key cutting, timber cutting and in-store DIY Workshops for customers to learn skills first hand.
The opening of this store – the eight in Bunnings’ UK estate - created more than 25 full and part-time jobs. There are plans to open a second store in Essex, in Harlow, later this year. Bunnings has already launched its Warehouse-format in St Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Milton Keynes, Broadstairs, Sittingbourne, and Folkestone.
www.diyweek.net
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