NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF


n Garland Products/ Worth Gardening is urging retailers to secure stocks from suppliers, as demand for garden products soar – with Garland sales up 90% in the past month. The garden care products manufacturer has reported a significant surge in sales; attributing the appetite to a positive Glee, as well as “developments elsewhere in the industry”. The company’s sales have risen by 90% in the past month and by 50% on the overall year. n Home appliance e-tailer is predicting its biggest day for online sales on Friday and has already seen a 70% jump in traffic to the Black Friday area of its website, as customers seek deals on branded appliances and household gadgets. AppliancesDirect. co.uk marketing manager Mark Kelly said: “We have high expectations for this year – we anticipate it will be our busiest to date.” n Visa debuted its first- ever Christmas advert last week, with the campaign featuring real independent businesses and urging consumers to shop their local high street. The commercial first aired on ITV on Friday, November 9 at 7.45pm and has had regular prime-time spots since, kicking off Visa’s Christmas campaign that puts the spotlight on independent retailers nationwide. n Tong Garden Centre was announced as the Elite Business of the Year at the recent Aagrah Restaurant Group’s 36th Annual Dinner and Elite Yorkshire Business Awards that raised £125,000 for charity. Tong’s managing director, Mark Farnsworth and commercial director, Sharon McNair were among the 600 business guests attending the event at the Centenary Pavilion, Leeds United. n After weeks of


unseasonable discounting and, following news that the CPI inflation rate remained unchanged in October, prices of DIY products have shot up 36% since last week, whilst discounts have also become watered down. According to data supplied exclusively to DIY Week by Lovethesales.com, prices of DIY products have increased more than a third since last Tuesday, up 154% year on year.


4 DIY WEEK 23 NOVEMBER 2018


B&Q UK sales slide, as Kingfisher exits Russian and Iberian markets


Kingfisher plans to exit a number of unprofitable markets, including Russia, which reported an £8million operating loss in FY17/18 Kingfisher’s Q3 results reveal


a 2.9% LFL decline in sales in the UK & Ireland, as the axing of Homefit took its toll. The global company also announced plans to pull out of Spain, Portugal and Russia, in a bid to focus on more profitable markets. Total sales for B&Q in the UK


& Ireland fell by 2.8%, with the discontinuation of showroom installation services pulling LFL figures down by around 1.5%. Screwfix had a better quarter, with a total sales uplift of 10.6%, LFL sales up 4.1% and nine new outlets opening during the trading period ended October 31, 2018. The retailer celebrated the opening of its 600th store in September.


Meanwhile, Kingfisher said it has made a strategic decision to exit operations in Spain, Portugal and Russia in order to concentrate its efforts on regions where it has or can attain a market-leading position.


The picture in Russia wasn’t much brighter, with an operating


loss of £8million in FY 17/18. The retail group operates a total of 20 stores in the country under its Castorama banner. Overall, Kingfisher reported


sales of £3billion for Q3, up 1.2% in constant currency, but with LFLs down 1.3%. A report in the Sunday Times


Ikea speeds up transformation


Ikea has announced it is accelerating its transformation, stepping up investments in new and existing Ikea stores and fulfilment centres, developing city centre formats and focusing on its e-commerce platform, to better meet the needs of its customers and be more convenient and affordable to many more people, the company said. Ingka Group is assessing all parts of the organisation and is simplifying to enable a greater focus on adding value to its customers. As a result, in the coming two years 11,500 new


jobs will be created globally, through opening around 30 new Ikea touchpoints, investments in its fulfilment network and in digital capabilities. At the same time 7,500 jobs may be made redundant, out of


functions


focusing and


on offices in 30


markets. In the UK and Ireland, Ikea continues to invest significantly, with a focus on greater convenience. In FY18, the retailer opened two new stores in Sheffield and Exeter. Ikea also opened its new Planning Studio


on Tottenham Court Road, the first step in its City Centre Approach, starting with London. As well as the opening of new


160,000 co-worker population, mainly


the total global


stores, Ikea has invested heavily in its distribution and fulfilment network with two new Customer Delivery Centres and a Parcel Unit opening in London. Ikea Greenwich will open its doors in spring 2019, creating 500 new jobs. However as part of this next phase of the transformation


suggested that Kingfisher CEO Veronique Laury was hoping to raise £125million via the sale and leaseback of six B&Q stores in order


to help fund Kingfisher’s


five-year turnaround plan, One Kingfisher. However, while Kingfisher has confirmed the sale leaseback process, it insists it is not linked to the transformation plan, with a spokesperson adding that the company has “net cash on the balance sheet, profits of more than £700million a year, and no pension fund deficit”. Kingfisher said: “We are exploring opportunities for the sale and leaseback on a small number of B&Q properties. These are good stores, in good locations where B&Q operates successfully. As a normal course of business, we regularly review our property portfolio to ensure it is operated as efficiently as possible.”


Wilko continues revamp of portfolio with Morley store


it is anticipated


350 jobs out the 12,100 UK and Ireland roles may be made redundant during the next two years.


Footfall declines expected on Black Friday but online may not strike it big either


Black Friday footfall is forecast to drop by 3.7% across the UK, as consumers head online to shop deals rather than heading out to the high street – although internet sales growth will still not match last year, thanks to poor timing, price comparison sites and heavy discounting in recent weeks Retail intelligence experts Springboard today forecast that Black Friday and the weekend that follows will do very little to help the beleaguered high street. Year-on-year declines


of nearly


4% compared with Black Friday 2017 are expected, plus a fall of 2.7 over the weekend as a whole. This follows a decline in footfall


on Black Friday 2017 of 3.6%, and 1.1% over the weekend, revealing the UK’s appetite for this


pre-Christmas spending


spree may be wavering. However, predictions for sales volumes online are lower than expected, with Springboard forecasting a 4% increase in online transactions on Black Friday 2018 – a figure that down on last year’s jump of 5.5%.


is


Meanwhile, although online transactions are set to rise on Friday, Springboard forecasts that they will drop over the weekend by around 5% compared with last year; primarily due to the fact that they rose significantly last year from 2016 and the retail intelligence firm believes this rate of growth will be difficult to maintain in the current climate. Footfall and spending activity over this year’s Black Friday period is likely to be impacted by the economic pressures, such as high debt levels and significant living costs, that have limited retail spend and driven a decline in


footfall and online spending throughout 2018.


Wilko re-opened the store in Morley, Leeds after it had undergone a makeover, as part of the retailer’s strategy to update its branches across the UK and promises shoppers will “encounter an entirely new Wilko”. The structure of the Morley


store “has completely changed”, said a Wilko spokesperson, adding that it formed part of “a new strategy for the business”. Wilko’s


‘Shape Our Future


2030’ strategy was outlined by the retailer earlier this year and has been introduced to help take the business to the next stage of growth. As part of the plan, Wilko has “simplified its leadership structures in store” and also closed three branches to ensure


its store portfolio


delivers on the aims of its new strategy in the way it “reaches and transacts with customers”. Wilko also announced it was accelerating store openings, with 20 new outlets


total estate to 416


trading


during the year, taking the retailer’s stores.


www.diyweek.net


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32