While we mostly cover local news on Inside Retail, we know retailers operate in a global economy and are affected by trends and changes taking place internationally.
As such, each week we round up the biggest global news stories so you can stay informed about the industry beyond our little island.
Harrods launches second site to combat congestion
Source: Telegraph UK
Harrods will launch a second site at Westfield Sheperd’s Bush in an effort to ensure customers at its flagship location can remain socially distant.
The second store will sell Harrods’ discount ranges, and will only be open temporarily.
Hong Kong retail at ‘life-or-death’ moment says HKRMA
Source: Inside Retail Asia
Hong Kong’s retail industry is facing “a crucial, life-and-death moment of survival” according to the city’s main retail body the Hong Kong Retail Management Association.
The HKRMA research projects 16,000 retail stores will close across the territory this year. That follows 14 months of negative sales growth, a brief respite, then a 40-per-cent-plus plunge during the Covid-19 crisis in February and March.
John Lewis begins phased re-opening of stores
Source: BBC
After the UK Government announced non-essential retail is cleared to re-open from June 15, John Lewis has announced it will begin a phase re-opening of its stores.
While the business has 50 stores across the UK, it didn’t specify how many would be open in the first phase.
UK online grocery spending hits record high
Source: Reuters
Britons have spent £1.2 million online on groceries between April and May, with the online share of the market growing to 13 per cent.
Nielsen said 7.9 million households placed an online grocery order, up from 4.8 million during the same period last year, including 1.1 million new online shoppers.
H&M to welcome back furloughed HQ staff
Source: Reuters
The 2,500 furloughed staff that work at H&M’s headquarters in Stockholm will return to work in July, the business said.
Some 1,500 of its around 5,000 stores remain temporarily closed, down from around 4,000 at the height of the closures.
Boohoo strongly refutes short-seller allegations
Source: Reuters
Online fashion retailer Boohoo has refuted allegations it had disclosed information that could be deemed as misleading.
Boohoo did not name who had penned the research note in question. However, on Tuesday investor Shadowfall published a report which said it believed the retailer had provided a misleading impression of its cumulative free cash flow.
