#retail

#retail

The need for effective reputation management has never been more acute, with brands in the public eye more than ever and social media giving consumers a voice to vent their frustrations. Catherine Turner explores what savvy brands are doing to protect their reputation, deal with stumbling blocks, and live up to the expectations of an unforgiving public. The recent travails of two of the world's biggest retailers highlight the extremes faced by businesses in a world of online reputation management.

"While it encouraging to see insolvency rates decrease, we know that big name brands are struggling and the outlook for 2026 is far from rosy. Retailers and hospitality businesses who had hoped for more support from the Autumn Budget are now facing increased uncertainty. It seems as though the New Year may already see another Government U-turn, this time backing down on plans to scrap business rates relief for pubs that has been in force since the pandemic."

Overall, Primark's sales growth in the period was below our previous expectations and we now expect Primark's sales growth in the first half of 2026 to be in the low single digits.

When you walk into Five Below, you expect things to be below $5. It's right there in the name. Still, that's not entirely true anymore. I stopped by Five Below, a discount chain with hundreds of stores across the US, for some late-in-the-game presents earlier this month, since I had very good luck visiting in 2023 with a budget of $50.

This year's survey reveals a significant decline in the use of credit cards, from 14.2% of transactions to 12.6%. With higher interest rates making credit cards a more expensive way to shop, consumers turned to debit cards where usage increased from 62.0% to 64.0% of transactions. As the cost of living crisis eased, some customers returned to old habits. The weekly shop showed signs of a comeback with consumers making fewer but larger transactions.

Earlier this year Marks & Spencers revealed that it would be investing a massive £90 million into its London locations, revealing that six new or improved locations would be added to its roster in the capital by Christmas. The last of those store additions has taken place this week, as M&S Chiswick has reopened.

Costco launched Kirkland Signature in 1995 to consolidate its private labels and reduce consumer confusion. Today, the brand is a money-generating machine that, according to The Wall Street Journal, made about $86 billion in the financial year 2023-24. For context, Costco reported a total revenue of $254 billion in the 52 weeks ending September 1, 2024. The figure is also a whopping $40 billion more than what Nike earned in the year leading up to May 2025.

If the S&P 500 finishes the day at a record, it would mark the latest time the U.S. stock market has powered past what appeared to be a debilitating set of worries. Most recently, those concerns centered on what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates, whether too many dollars are flowing into artificial-intelligence technology, and if sharp drops for cryptocurrencies would bleed over into other markets.

These appointments represent a dynamic next step for The Vitamin Shoppe as we continue building out a high-performance organization aligned with our bold growth ambitions,

The U.S. stock market is drifting near its record levels on Wednesday following mixed reactions to profit reports from Macy's, Marvell Technologies, and other companies. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and pulled within 0.7% of its all-time high set in late October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 174 points, or 0.6%, as of 11:50 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was virtually unchanged.

Shopping has always been a game. And now it's being rigged against you. This is the story of a little piece of technology that you have been taking for granted. Almost every time you've gone to the store, this little guy has been fighting for you. It's called the price tag. And over the past decade, companies have been on a secret mission to kill it without you noticing.

There was a time - not so long ago, though it already feels sepia-tinted - when London was the sort of place that tourists arrived in with stars in their eyes and left with shopping bags cutting off circulation at the fingers. Harrods bags, Selfridges bags, Mulberry bags, the bright yellow of Fortnum's peeking out of a suitcase being sat on in a hotel lobby. Europe's favourite grown-up playground; Manhattan's chic transatlantic sibling; Tokyo's idea of European swagger with better tailoring and more chaotic restaurants.

"Our organization has become slow and inefficient," Heaf said. "Unnecessary complexity has reduced our speed and dampened our innovation."

Millions of pounds a month are lost by UK shops and businesses because they are not accessible to people with disabilities, according to an awareness campaign. Purple Tuesday, which says a "mindset change" is needed, is urging retailers to consider new ways of improving inclusion such as adapting sensory experiences for neurodivergent people. Some 16 million people in the UK have a disability, and 90% of disabled people found their shopping experience was affected by a lack of accessibility, according to the Business Disability Forum.

Boasting the rodeo-ready title of the largest Western retailer in the United States, Boot Barn beat Wall Street expectations in its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday. The company reported a net sales of $505.4 million, a 18.7% increase from a year prior. Boot Barn's share price has increased by more than 50% over the past 12 months, and is up over 27% year-to-date.

Due to market dynamics in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, we shared with our team today that we are proposing to close all company-operated Gap Specialty and Gap Outlet stores in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland in a phased manner from the end of August through the end of September 2021. We are thoughtfully moving through the consultation process with our European team, and we will provide support and transition assistance for our colleagues as we look to wind down stores.

There have been times in all of our careers where we've been passed up, or we didn't get that next role when we felt like we were ready for it,