In-Store articles from March 2004

In-Store archives from March 2004

Independents worried by latest c-store acquisition.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Sainsbury's has extended its convenience network by acquiring the Bells Stores 54-strong north-east chain, for a price in the region of 20m [pounds sterling]. The deal has triggered further calls for government intervention in the sector. ...

Asda introduces credit card ...(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Asda is launching a new credit card in two stores--Longwell Green in Bristol and Cwmbran in South Wales--over the next six months. If successful, it could be rolled out throughout the chain. The card is backed by finance company GE...

... and P-O-P compliance audits.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Asda has appointed PDQ Field Marketing to carry out in-store P-O-P compliance audits every three weeks. PDQ says it will work with and educate Asda staff as well as delivering the audit. It will deliver reports and analysis on a next-day...

Costcutter chases rival stores.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Symbol group Costcutter has launched a bid to entice 1,200 Londis stores to switch networks by offering 30,000 [pounds sterling] over a three-year period. The payment comes in return for the trader signing a four-year agreement with...

The first standalone Marks & Spencer Lifestore has opened in Gateshead.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The first standalone Marks & Spencer Lifestore has opened in Gateshead. The outlet is part of ex-Selfridges chief Vittorio Radice's vision for the retailer's Home business. A full-sized house with interior and exterior staircases forms the...

Esprit designers embark on London space odyssey.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Fashion chain Esprit is collaborating with JHP Design on its latest central London store, due to open on Oxford Street in May. It will provide 700 sq m of retail space on three levels and will sell men's, women's and young fashion ranges....

M&S updates image with format trials ...(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Marks & Spencer is to trial new store formats in a bid to develop a fresh approach to store design. The retailer will start with the redevelopment of the High Street Basingstoke store and then review an additional 11 stores. The project...

Fairtrade event hits the aisles.(News)(ethically-sourced food products featured)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Fairtrade Fortnight launched in stores across the UK at the beginning of this month to promote ethically-sourced food products. The initiative, from the Fairtrade Foundation and a group of supermarkets and independent stores, aims to raise...

Spar witnesses growth from managed ranges.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Spar group has announced a 15 per cent growth in newspaper and magazine sales, double the industry norm. Spar attributes the growth to a recent emphasis on the category, as a footfall and a sales driver. It also sees a move towards...

... and makes food halls look tastier.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Marks & Spencer has appointed iD Live Brand Experience to manage a year-long contract to deliver in-store theatre and food sampling programmes. The campaign takes place on Fridays in the food halls of 30 selected stores across the...

Dairy producer Rachel's Organic is offering customers free pots of Greek Style Yoghurt in a promotion running across stockists until July 2004.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Dairy producer Rachel's Organic is offering customers free pots of Greek Style Yoghurt in a promotion running across stockists until July 2004. Developed to build awareness and attract new customers, the campaign marks the second phase of a...

Raleigh uses P-O-P to show off its Chopper.(News)
March 1, 2004... Raleigh has relaunched its iconic 1970s Chopper bike with P-O-P from IDa Creative Link. The campaign material includes posters, banners and window sashes, and has rolled out to more than 400 Raleigh stockists in the UK. Like the...

Peter Jones, the John Lewis Partnership store in London's Sloane Square, has installed Whispering Windows technology for the second time.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Peter Jones, the John Lewis Partnership store in London's Sloane Square, has installed Whispering Windows technology for the second time. Starting with London Fashion Week in mid-February, the store plans to use the system developed by...

Discount card courts teens.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A new multi-retailer discount card system aimed at the teenage market, called Dubit-card, has been launched with partners Pizza Hut, cinema group Vue and under-18 disco UKClubCulture. This is the first card of its kind. Dubitcard aims to...

Female pound bolsters online sales.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Women are spending more money at online retailers than men, according to a new report from market research group Verdict. The typical online woman shopper last year spent 71.4 per cent more than in 2002, a growth rate six times faster than...

Pink Domestos launch is a drag act.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Lever Faberge has appointed iD Live Brand Experience to drive awareness and sales for the 4m [pounds sterling] launch of Domestos Pink Power bleach. Drag queens in glitter outfits will communicate the key campaign message: "Domestos is not...

Stores count cost of Congestion Charge.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Retailers in London believe they have lost business as a result of the Congestion Charge, says a report published by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors on the anniversary of the Charge's introduction. According to the report, 90 per...

Selfridges to go Brazil nuts in May.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Selfridges' Oxford Street store will be running Brasil 40[degrees] throughout May 2004. The retailer promises to "utterly surrender itself to the extravagant, vibrant, sexy spirit of Brazil". Street market culture will be adopted around the...

Armadillo is key to lock group.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Global lock group Assa Abloy has opened its first UK store, branded as Armadillo, in Sutton Coldfield's Gracechurch shopping centre. The store acts as a showroom for premium domestic security products. The store format was developed by...

WH Smith bows out of singles chart ...(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... WH Smith has announced plans to cease stocking music chart singles because of falling sales in the sector. The retailer will continue to sell albums and plans to use the singles' space for more popular entertainment products.

... and turns to Asian screen stars.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... WH Smith has installed an in-store screen network from MEI Digital in its four stores at Hong Kong International Airport. The trial initiative precedes a planned rollout across the retailer's Asia operation.

Travel wash gets in the holiday spirit.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Washing product manufacturer Acdoco is running a promotional campaign across 100,000 packs of Glo Care Travel Wash sold in most major UK multiples. A holiday voucher entitles customers to a 100 [pounds sterling] discount on foreign package...

Carry on screening: much-demanded research is set to show retailers and brands just how effective in-store screens can be.(News Analysis)
March 1, 2004... Retailers and brand owners who have been hoping for extra time in the waiting game before committing to in-store screen networks have been presented with information that might focus their minds. Two individual studies, each providing some...

Musical chairs around the boardroom table.(Leader; point of sale advertising)
March 1, 2004... The P-O-P industry needs to to gain acccess to the boardroom if it is to raise its profile and assure its long-term future, according to sentiments expressed at POPAI's AGM last month. This is a good point and one that can't really be...

Spanish wise: Zara's window displays reflect the simplicity of the shop floor, says Paperchase's Mark Upstone.(Display of the Month)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... "My first encounter with Zara was many years ago on holiday in Spain, long before it had opened in London," recalls Mark Upstone, display manager at Paperchase. "It was unlike any store I had seen before and was selling well designed clothes...

Brands kick into Dutch: Onno van der Plaat, chief executive of Dutch company Alrec Sign & Display, finds brand loyalty remains constant as the country adjusts to changes in demographics and retailing.(Global Talk)
March 1, 2004... The 16.2 million-strong Dutch population is in a state of change. Aside from the growth expected over the next few decades, there area number of demographic changes with regard to household sizes and age expectations. Households are...

US slowdown leaves Safeway at a loss.(International News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Safeway has reported a final quarter loss of $696m (373m [pounds sterling]). The loss is partly due to reduced consumer spending in the US, a strike which has been affecting 289 of its stores in California, and problems with chains Domicks...

Sales hit record levels at Wal-Mart.(International News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Wal-Mart has announced record sales for its fourth quarter ending 31 January. Net sales have increased by 12.2 per cent to $74.5bn (39.9bn [pounds sterling]). The same figure for the previous 12 months is $256.3bn (137.3bn [pounds sterling]),...

Fake euro notes lead to Dutch ban.(International News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Dutch retailers are telling shoppers that they no longer accept 100 [euro] notes after a massive increase in high-quality forged euros caused alarm in The Netherlands. The number of forged bank notes has also risen to record highs in Germany....

Louis Copeland has tailor-made refit.(International News; store redesign)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Traditional Dublin tailor Louis Copeland has unveiled a new store design developed by architect Douglas Wallace. The project contrasts a contemporary shopfit with the features of the period building.

Laura Ashley feathers Kohl's nest.(International News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... US department store chain Kohl's is introducing Laura Ashley Lifestyles to its home textile offering. The range includes bedding and bathroom-related products in patterns and solid colours,

China is finer for Carrefour.(International News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Carrefour has opened its first store in western China--its first in the country for two years--in Urumqi. The French supermarket chain was previously forced to halt its planned expansion into China when a law was introduced stipulating that...

Connors Bros swallows Bumble Bee.(International News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... North American canned seafood producer Connors Bros Income Fund is buying San Diego-based Bumble Bee Seafoods in a $386m acquisition. The merger will create North America's largest seafood company. The combined company will be managed from...

CVC gets on its bike: Lauren Mills, small business editor at the Sunday Express, ponders CVC Capital's back-pedalling from the Halfords chain and wonders whether Sir Ken Morrison is up to the Safeway challenge.(City Talk)
March 1, 2004... Halfords, the car parts and bicycle retailer, is drawing up plans for a sale of flotation just 18 months after private equity group CVC Capital Partners bought it from Boots for 427m [pounds sterling]. CVC has tired of Halfords quickly...

John Lewis banks 300m [pounds sterling] loan provision.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... John Lewis Partnership has announced a five-year agreement with eight banks that will enable the group to borrow up to 300m [pounds sterling]. The banks are Alliance & Leicester, Allied Irish Banks, Barclays, Credit Suisse First Boston, HSBC,...

Shareholders back Morrisons merger.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Morrisons shareholders have voted to sanction the company's takeover of Safeway at an extraordinary general meeting. The Bradford-based retailer anticipates the merger will become effective by 8 March, whereupon new Morrisons shares will be...

Losses reported at Megastore.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Virgin Megastore incurred losses of 10.9m [pounds sterling] in the year to 1 February 2003, according to figures filed at Companies House. A group spokesman says the figure includes the cost of a new distribution centre.

Spending trend continues.(News)(National Statistics Office)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Consumers are still spending money, says the National Statistics Office. Total retail sales grew by 1.7 per cent in the quarter ending 31 January 2004 compared with the previous three months. For non-food stores the figure increased by 2.5...

Liberty announces profit and retirement.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Liberty International chairman Donald Gordon has announced he will retire on 24 June 2005. The company, which owns the Lakeside shopping centre in Thurrock and the Metro Centre in Gateshead, has increased its total dividend by 5.3 per cent...

Profits surge at Alliance & Leicester.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Alliance & Leicester has posted a 12 per cent rise in annual profits to 525m [pounds sterling], Aided by a buoyant mortgage market, the company says it met all of its strategic objectives for 2003.

Ahold offloads two chains.(News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Ahold has announced it is selling its BI-LO and Brunos chains in the US. The chains, which are based in the south east, are being sold as Ahold concentrates on its remaining US food operations, including Stop & Shop and Giant-Carlisle. Ahold...

Kaffee culture: themed stock and espresso are all in a day's work for Tchibo UK managing director David Haimes--especially on Wednesday. He outlines the strategy to Maeve Hosea.(Profile: David Haimes, Tchibo UK)
March 1, 2004... "The Tchibo concept is 100 per cent impulse," says David Haimes, managing director of Tchibo UK, tucking enthusiastically into a pear tart and frothy coffee. "People come for the experience and to see what is new in-store each week." An...

Caught in the act: the Disability Discrimination Act requires retailers to make their premises more user-friendly by October. But many find the law confusing. Maeve Hosea assesses the impact on store owners.(Retailer Focus)
March 1, 2004... "Retailers are responding to the Disability Discrimination Act in different ways," says Sarah Langton-Lockton, chief executive of the Centre for Accessible Environments (CAE). "Some are advanced, others haven't got to grips with it and some...

Please sign here: the best signage in the world is of no use if poor maintenance means shoppers can't see it.(Special Report)
March 1, 2004... Effective signage has never been held up as the single solution to all of the retail industry's ills. But helping shoppers find the things they want to buy more easily should appeal to retail managers without the need for much explanation....

Best laid plans: P-O-P installers are dealing with bigger projects in terms of time and skills. Maeve Hosea finds that good planning is key to staying on top.(Special Report; point of purchase)
March 1, 2004... Large P-O-P rollout campaigns provide financial incentive for installation companies but they come with their own set of complications. From the tight strategic framework to the heavy demands on staff time and expertise, big campaigns make...

Digital earns recognition.(POPAI)(www.popaidigital.com)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2004... 1 March heralded the arrival of www.popaidigital.com, a web site run by POPAI and aimed at anyone involved in digital communications. The site will offer a services directory, news, and portals to global sites of interest in this rapidly...

Shopping trolley goes on a Bender.(Product News)(Buko Ltd. (UK) introduces ergonomic shopping cart)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Buko has produced an ergonomic expandable shopping trolley called Bender Ender. Beneficial for elderly shoppers of those with back problems, it is lightweight and puts leas stress on the shopper's back. The product incorporates the...

Printer is label-bodied.(Product News)(Internet Labels introduces new printer)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Internet Labels has added a new label printing system to its range of labels and printer ribbons. The company claims the V Series printer brings high-speed printing onto full-size labels within the reach of smaller budgets. The printer...

Card unit speaks the tooth.(Product News)(credit card payment terminal introduced)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Dione has launched Xplorer, a portable card payment terminal using Bluetooth wireless technology. The unit is designed to create new possibilities for customer service, such as allowing easy payment to customers waiting in queues. The...

Spring time.(Product News)(cigarette display cases developed)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... HL Display has developed a new solution for cigarette and tobacco merchandising. The product, a spring-feed OPT box, is designed to accommodate standard packs of 20 cigarettes, it is available in four lengths to suit a variety of shelf...

Cast performs in low lighting.(Product News; Barlo Cast Lumina)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Barlo Plastics has launched Barlo Cast Lumina, a sheet material with light diffusion characteristics that illuminate its surface. Cast allows smaller and lower-power lighting sources to be used in installations such as poster frames....

Industry directory.(in-store display industry)(Directory)
March 1, 2004... ACRYLIC LASER CUTTING PLASTIC-FORMERS LTD King Street, Stockport Road, Denton, Manchester, M34 6PF. T: 0161 320 7200 F: 0161 335 0109 email: enquiries@plasticformers.co.uk www.plasticformers.co.uk Contact:...

Store equipment directory.(Directory)
March 1, 2004... sdea The Shop and Display Equipment Association has launched a new website with a simple product locator and a comprehensive search facility enabling retailers, shopfitters and designers to track down the product or service they need...

E-store.(point of sale services)(Directory)
March 1, 2004... Adglow Adglow specialises in the development of innovative bespoke POP and merchandising systems in many formats and materials; providing a complete end-to-end solution from design, prototypes and production, through to storage,...

Ask.(Eye on Design)(design of retail store)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... This Tottenham Court Road retailer has one of the most striking and refreshing showrooms on the high street. The branded experience is what hits the shopper, with wonderfully powerful retro graphics on the wall as you more upstairs. Clean,...

Hi-Fi experience.(Eye on Design)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Wow. Entering this store on Tottenham Court Road rnakes you feel you are in an Aladdin's cave for the mega-rich, with rooms set aside for demonstrating the latest systems. Low light levels add to the sophisticated, upmarket ambience. Although...

House of Fraser.(Eye on Design)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... I had expected House of Fraser on Oxford Street to be the 'master of display', given the plush homeware areas throughout the branch and the teams of dedicated staff within a store of this nature. However, we were faced with a corner of the...

Currys.(Eye on Design)(marketing of Currys Group PLC)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Currys brand is strong, with Linda Barker around every corner to remind you you're in a bargain hunter's paradise. But--and it's a big but-this Camden store lacked any sense of logical merchandising or space to display products. Dark or...