U K
The information below comes from the
UK Activity Report.
Walton Group is to start work in the new year on a £100m shopping mall in Liverpool city centre, which should create up to 1,500 jobs. 28-Dec-1998
Sears has rejected a £520m conditional takeover bid from Philip Green, the retail entrepreneur. 23-Dec-1998
Debenhams is planning a £35m refit of its Oxford store which will create 50 jobs, and two temporary stores are being set up to serve customers for the duration of the project. 22-Dec-1998
Sherwood Group is to cut 300 jobs in its textiles business, but has not specified how many of these will be in the UK. 22-Dec-1998
Dawson International is to cut 300 jobs at its JE-Morgan thermal textiles business in the US. 22-Dec-1998
Marks & Spencer has announced plans to build a new store in Scunthorpe town centre, as part of a £27m shopping mall being developed by Wykeland Group and Chesterfield Properties. 21-Dec-1998
Castlebawn, a joint venture consortium comprising property companies R&A; Developments and Southgate, have announced plans for a £70m retail and leisure development near Newtownards town centre in Northern Ireland. 21-Dec-1998
The Post Office is expected to close up to 100 of its Crown post offices and transfer the business to other retail locations, having been given more commercial freedom by the government. 21-Dec-1998
The EU is proposing a new directive for the recycling of electrical goods that will require retailers to take back old equipment when selling a new item. 21-Dec-1998
Safeway is to trial video vending machines outside its stores, in a joint venture with Blockbuster. 19-Dec-1998
Sainsbury has announced plans for a £30m investment at the Castle Vale housing estate in Birmingham, and more than 500 jobs will be created. 18-Dec-1998
House of Fraser is to refurbish its in-store restaurants in a £8m deal with Granada Retail and Massarella Catering. 18-Dec-1998
Asda has acquired five Co-op stores in Yeovil, Blackpool, Darlington, Birkenhead and Weston-super-Mare, and will expand them with the creation of about 1,000 jobs. 18-Dec-1998
Bairdwear is to close its textiles factory in Fencehouses near Houghton-le-Spring with the loss of 270 jobs. 17-Dec-1998
Sainsbury is to expand its loyalty card scheme by enabling customers to cash in their discount points at other retailers, effectively creating a new currency. 17-Dec-1998
Safeway has developed a hand-held personalised shopping device in conjunction with IBM that will enable customers to order goods from anywhere and collect them from the store later. 17-Dec-1998
Esprit, the fashion group, is looking for a partner to open franchise stores in the UK. 15-Dec-1998
Tesco has won permission to build a major new distribution warehouse at Purfleet in Essex, which will create more than 800 jobs. 14-Dec-1998
Falmer Jeans is moving its head office from Essex to the former Sweater Shop factory in Cumnock, Ayrshire, and 50 jobs will be transferred. 14-Dec-1998
Somerfield has introduced a Wines Direct service, in which customers use a freephone number and the goods are delivered within two days. 12-Dec-1998
Spar is to introduce cash machines to stores throughout the country, in a deal with Woolwich and service provider Euronet. 12-Dec-1998
Sears Property Developments has applied for planning permission to build a £27m retail park at Fforestfach in Swansea. 11-Dec-1998
Waitrose is planning to open a new store in Malvern next year, with the creation of 250 jobs. 11-Dec-1998
Warner Estates is planning a £20m retail park development in Watford, and it could be open in a year. 11-Dec-1998
Southwark Council is to consider plans from Capital & Income Group for a £1bn development between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, including shops, offices, restaurants and a hotel. 11-Dec-1998
Scott & Rhodes Banksfield Dyeworks is to close its textiles factory near Leeds with the loss of 73 jobs, unless a buyer can be found. 11-Dec-1998
Safeway is to open a 50,000 sq ft depot for grocery and chilled products in Larne, Northern Ireland, in an alliance with P&O; Ferries, creating 100 jobs. 10-Dec-1998
Creative Haidressers of the US is to open a flagship store in Manchester as it prepares to open a chain of 20 hair salons across the north of England. 10-Dec-1998
Morrison Developments is planning a £24m regeneration scheme for Middleton town centre, in conjunction with Rochdale council. 10-Dec-1998
Harvey Nichols has signed a provisional deal with the owners of the St Andrews Square development in Edinburgh to build a department store. 10-Dec-1998
Freemans is linking up with Debenhams to produce a home shopping catalogue called Debenhams Direct, and it will be launched in 2000. 10-Dec-1998
The £35m Captain Cook Square retail development in Middlesbrough has pre-let stores to Virgin Megastore, TK Maxx, TJ Hughes, Wilkinsons, JJB Sports, Waterstones, and Scottish & Newcastle. 09-Dec-1998
Railtrack and Stannifer are planning a £120m transport, retail and leisure development in Aberdeen city centre, including a shopping mall, restaurants, bars, 13-screen cinema, a health and fitness centre and a car park. 09-Dec-1998
Kingfisher is to open a 70,000 sq ft DIY sore in Shanghai in June, through a joint venture between B&Q; and Shanghai Home-Dec Building Materials. 09-Dec-1998
Fruit Of The Loom is to lay off 2,700 workers at textile plants in Derry and Donegal over Christmas, prompting speculation that about 800 of these job losses could become permanent. 08-Dec-1998
Body Shop is linking up with KPMG to offer advice to companies on social, ethical and environmental reporting, and the operation will be called Sustainability Advisory Services. 07-Dec-1998
Safeway is seeking planning permission to build a £50m underground supermarket in Aberdeen. 07-Dec-1998
Lambert Howarth is to close its shoe factory in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, with the loss of 300 jobs. 04-Dec-1998
Bovis is expected to win a construction management contract for the £90m Touchwood Court retail and leisure project being planned by Lend Lease in Solihull. 04-Dec-1998
The government is to provide funding for a new Centre for 3D Electronic Shopping at University College, London, which will develop body scanners to help shoppers buy clothes that fit. 04-Dec-1998
Asda has announced plans to sell books, music and videos over the telephone, and the service will later be launched on the internet. 04-Dec-1998
B&Q; is seeking planning permission for a £14m DIY warehouse and garden megastore in Plymouth, creating about 200 jobs. 04-Dec-1998
McBride, the household products manufacturer, is to cut 200 jobs in response to falling profits, but has yet to decide which sites will be affected. 04-Dec-1998
Time Computer Systems is opening its first computer store outside the UK in Dublin later this month. 04-Dec-1998
Hornby is moving some of its model train production from Broadstairs, Kent, to the Far East, which will reduce its workforce by a fifth. 03-Dec-1998
Hermes is looking to sell the Grosvenor shopping centre in Northampton for about £80m, which could result in its size being doubled. 03-Dec-1998
Boots is to open a family planning clinic at a store in Glasgow, in a joint venture with Greater Glasgow Community and Mental Health Services NHS Trust. 02-Dec-1998
The government is to press the EU to delay abolishing duty free sales for another five years. 02-Dec-1998
Woolworths is returning to Blackburn after an absence of more than ten years, and it will take over the former C&A; store by next Easter. 02-Dec-1998
Courtaulds Textiles is to cut 1,125 jobs by restructuring its Claremont Textiles business, with eight factories being closed in the north-east, Hampshire, Sussex, Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. 02-Dec-1998
Parker Hirst is to close its textile plant in Congleton with the loss of 71 jobs, but its other factories in Tunstall, Burslem and Longton are said to be safe for the foreseeable future. 01-Dec-1998
Planet Gloves is closing its plant at Trecenydd near Caerphilly with the loss of more than 20 jobs, and production will be transferred to the Burnley factory of its parent company Rubber & Allied Products Group. 01-Dec-1998
Land Securities and Sunderland Council are planning a £45m expansion at Sunderland's Bridges shopping centre, and the plans include a new Debenhams store that will create 350 jobs. 30-Nov-1998
St Modwen Developments is planning a £20m shopping centre in the centre of Newcastle-under-Lyme, with construction due to start in the middle of next year. 30-Nov-1998
Marks & Spencer has won planning permission for a £74m retail and office development in Fenchurch Street, London. 30-Nov-1998
Addis is setting up a new household products research and development facility in Swansea, creating an unspecified number of new jobs. 30-Nov-1998
Virgin is looking for suitable sites to open 30 out-of-town stores over the next five years, and they are expected to sell holidays as well as cinema, music and leisure products. 27-Nov-1998
Southwark Council and property investor UK Land are planning a £500m redevelopment of the Elephant & Castle shopping centre in London, and they are looking for a third-party developer to join the scheme. 27-Nov-1998
First Choice Holidays has appointed Chesterton to find suitable locations for 50 new stores in the south-east by next May. 27-Nov-1998
Dewhirst is closing its clothing factories in Stoke and Redcar with the loss of 600 jobs. 27-Nov-1998
Fuller Smith & Turner is planning to expand its chain of Quality Wine Merchants. 27-Nov-1998
Laura Ashley is to close a fabric plant in Oswestry and a Dutch curtain factory, but has decided to keep three larger Welsh factories having failed to find a buyer. 27-Nov-1998
Kingfisher's Chartwell Land property division is buying a retail warehouse park in Croydon from Brixton Estate for £32m. 27-Nov-1998
Virgin Entertainment is delaying the sale of its Our Price music stores until next year, as potential venture capital purchasers want to see evidence that trading will hold up over Christmas. 27-Nov-1998
Lidl, the German supermarket company, is seeking permission to build a regional distribution depot in Thamesmead. 27-Nov-1998
Dunloe Ewart has announced plans for a £100m shopping development in Belfast city centre, and House of Fraser is believed to be a potential anchor tenant. 26-Nov-1998
Wm Morrison is planning to build a £15m food superstore in Newcastle, which will create 250 jobs. 24-Nov-1998
Londonderry's Foyleside Shopping Centre is opening a number of new stores, including Monsoon, Top Shop, The Link and Belmont Foto Service, with the creation of 50 jobs. 24-Nov-1998
Prudential has bought the Galleries shopping complex and surrounding land in Washington, Tyne & Wear, in a £70m deal, which could pave the way for a major redevelopment of the town centre. 24-Nov-1998
Majestic Wine is planning to open nine more retail outlets over the next year, to add to the existing 77. 24-Nov-1998
Goldshield, the vitamins and supplements mail-order company, is considering plans to open its own shops and to sell more of its products through existing pharmacies. 24-Nov-1998
Falmer, the jeans company, is to shed up to 60 jobs by closing its head office in Rayleigh, Essex. 23-Nov-1998
Batleys is planning to build a cash and carry depot in Fareham and is also looking at sites in Bristol, Reading, Luton, Watford and Hemel Hempstead. 21-Nov-1998
Safeway is to reduce its spending on new stores in order to focus on improving existing stores, and is planning to create an additional 100 fish and meat counters, 30 pharmacies and 40 coffee shops. 21-Nov-1998
Shell is to open its first standalone food outlet next month, under the Select brand, and the central London store could be followed by others. 21-Nov-1998
BWG of Ireland has bought the Renton cash and carry business in Falkirk and Stirling as part of an ongoing expansion into Scotland. 21-Nov-1998
Berghaus is to cut 50 jobs at its outdoor clothing factory in Washington, Tyne & Wear, as part of a plan to focus the site on the production of technical products. 20-Nov-1998
Safeway is seeking planning permission to build a £13m superstore in Hertford. 20-Nov-1998
Centros Miller is planning a retail and leisure complex in Kidderminster town centre, including a Tesco store, a multiplex cinema, a 70,000 sq ft retail park, a drive-in restaurant and bars. 20-Nov-1998
Asda St James has won approval for a £26m retail development in the Seacroft area of Leeds, and plans include a 96,000 sq ft Tesco store. 19-Nov-1998
Centros Miller, the joint venture between Centros and the Miller group, is planning a £100m retail scheme in Maidstone which will include three department stores and 36 smaller shops. 19-Nov-1998
Somerfield has agreed a £25m deal to open up to 50 grocery stores on Elf petrol station forecourts over the next 18 months, creating 1,500 jobs. 19-Nov-1998
Havelock Europa, the shopfitting company, is forming a £1.2m joint venture in the Middle East with American Home Industries, and a manufacturing operation will be set up in Bahrain. 19-Nov-1998
William Baird is preparing to close two clothing factories, in Tyne & Wear and the Midlands, unless a buyer can be found. 19-Nov-1998
New Look is planning to open 12 more fashion stores over the next few months and is also looking to relocate some of its smaller stores to larger premises. 19-Nov-1998
Work has begun on Norwich's £25m Riverside leisure, retail and residential development, which is expected to create around 1,000 jobs by the year 2000. 18-Nov-1998
The Bacup Shoe Company is cutting production at its Rossendale slipper factory in East Lancashire with the loss of 40 jobs. 18-Nov-1998
BAA McArthur Glen is planning to expand its Cheshire Oaks retail complex with 44 new shops, creating up to 200 new jobs. 18-Nov-1998
St Modwen Properties is proposing a £20m retail scheme in Newcastle-under-Lyme, that will involve building a new street with more than 30 shops. 18-Nov-1998
Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers is planning to open 40 One Stop convenience stores each year over the next few years, and is also looking to spend up to £50m acquiring newspaper publishers and retail outlets. 18-Nov-1998
Plans have been approved for a £15m extension to the Braidwater Retail Park in Ballymena, and the letting agent Hamilton Osborne King is looking for retailers to move into the new units. 17-Nov-1998
Derby City Council is considering three alternative schemes that could result in a new £50m shopping centre in the middle of the city, with one of the proposals coming from John Laing. 17-Nov-1998
C&A; is to close its store in Park Street, Walsall, in January with the loss of up to 30 jobs. 17-Nov-1998
Carpetright is buying 27 stores from Allied Carpets for about £12m. 17-Nov-1998
Joplings Group is cutting 25 of the 430 staff it employs at its headquarters in Sunderland and at department stores in the North East. 16-Nov-1998
Sainsbury is to remove a layer of senior management by centralising operations at its London head office and by redeploying the 250 people that work in its regional offices. 14-Nov-1998
Safeway is to close the former Wellworths store in Armagh with the loss of 130 jobs, as it was facing competition from a new Sainsbury store. 14-Nov-1998
C&J; Clark is to cut 220 jobs at its shoe factory in Weston-super-Mare. 14-Nov-1998
Bertram Books, the Norwich-based book wholesaler, is to build a new warehouse and offices at the Broadland Business Park in Thorpe, which will enable it to increase headcount from 600 to 1,000. 13-Nov-1998
Teignbridge Council is in discussions with developers about a multi-million plan to transform part of Newton Abbot town centre in Devon. 13-Nov-1998
Swallowfield is to cut more than 60 jobs at its cosmetics factory in Bideford, North Devon. 13-Nov-1998
Boots is planning to open more than 100 out-of-town stores over the next two years, which will help it to increase sales of bulky electrical goods. 13-Nov-1998
Claire's Accessories, the US-based jewellery retailer, is about to open 13 new shops in the UK to add to the existing 167, and hopes to have 400 by 2001. 13-Nov-1998
Littlewoods is to close its printing operation in Liverpool and move to a new site in Speke, creating about 150 new jobs. 12-Nov-1998
Alldays is to close its wholesale warehouse in Team Valley, Gateshead, with the loss of 70 jobs. 12-Nov-1998
Tarmac has won approval to build a £60m retail and leisure scheme in the centre of Sheffield, which should be completed in 2002. 12-Nov-1998
TJ Hughes has opened a new discount store in Warrington as part of an expansion programme that will see three more new developments in Middlesbrough, Wrexham and Burnley by Spring 2000. 11-Nov-1998
The Bull Ring markets in Birmingham could be facing hundreds of job losses as the council considers plans for a multi-million-pound redevelopment that would cut the number of stalls from 1,150 to 700. 11-Nov-1998
Iceland is set to become the first food retailer to sell its products on a digital TV shopping channel, and British Interactive Broadcasting has also agreed similar deals with Great Universal Stores, Woolworth and Midland Bank. 11-Nov-1998
Adria, part of the Charnos group, is to close its Lisnaskea hosiery factory in Northern Ireland with the loss of 70 jobs. 11-Nov-1998
Wilson's is to cut 50 jobs at its Silver Cross pram factory in Otley near Leeds. 11-Nov-1998
Booker is planning to close its head office in Buckingham Gate, London, sell the Booker Wholesale Foods business, and review the strategy behind Booker Foodservice and contract food distribution. 11-Nov-1998
Arrowcroft is planning to redevelop the shopping area at Coventry's Lower Precinct at a cost of £33m. 10-Nov-1998
Receivers at the Yardley perfume business have cut a further 43 staff from the Basildon plant. 10-Nov-1998
Cusp, part of the Rotary Group, is planning a £25m retail and residential development in the centre of Lisburn, Northern Ireland. 10-Nov-1998
St James Securities has won government approval for a £70m leisure and shopping complex in the centre of Leeds, which will include a 15-screen cinema, restaurants and bars. 10-Nov-1998
Tesco has agreed a deal to open Tesco Express convenience stores at Esso petrol stations, starting with a 10-store trial. 09-Nov-1998
Railtrack is said to be planning a £100m project to transform Clapham Junction in London into a shopping and leisure complex. 09-Nov-1998
The Courtaulds Jersey Leisurewear factory in Leek, North Staffordshire, is to close due to difficult market conditions, and 140 jobs will be lost. 09-Nov-1998
Sainsbury has won planning consent to build a regional distribution centre at the Hams Hall rail freight facility near Birmingham. 07-Nov-1998
First Quench, the drinks retailer formed recently by Whitbread and Allied Domecq, has launched Wine Rack Direct, a home shopping catalogue with a dedicated delivery service that covers the whole country. 07-Nov-1998
FII is to cut 80 jobs at its footwear plant in Bridgend. 07-Nov-1998
Sainsbury has won permission to build a supermarket and petrol station at the Cawdor Quarry in Matlock, Derbyshire. 06-Nov-1998
Desmond & Sons has announced 225 redundancies at 11 of its 12 textile sites in Northern Ireland. 06-Nov-1998
Focus has decided to keep the head office for its DIY business in Crewe, and its recently-acquired Do It All headquarters in Dudley will be used as an operational support office. 05-Nov-1998
Hampton Trust, Land Securities and Hammerson are forming an alliance to promote their major retail developments in Birmingham - the £300m Arena Central project, the £450m Martineau Galleries and the £350m Bull Ring scheme. 05-Nov-1998
Principality Pension Trust, an investment trust linked to a privately-owned South Wales group of companies, has submitted plans to Caerphilly County Borough Council for a £14m retail park in Caerphilly that would create up to 150 jobs. 05-Nov-1998
Tulloch Gray has submitted plans to the Highland Council for a £10m shopping and leisure development in Inverness. 05-Nov-1998
Essex Furniture is closing 23 branches across the country, while the remaining 12 are being acquired by Landmark Home Furnishings. 05-Nov-1998
Unilever, Cadbury Schweppes and Kimberly Clark have formed a marketing consortium called Jigsaw that will mail a new magazine to 1m homes in order to increase loyalty to their brands. 05-Nov-1998
Lewing, the Nantwich-based manufacturer of sports gear, is said to be facing the possibility of closure with the loss of 150 jobs. 04-Nov-1998
Modus Properties is planning a £24m redevelopment of the Castle Dene Shopping Centre in Peterlee. 04-Nov-1998
Castlemore Securities has submitted plans for a new retail park in Burnley, and a rail station could also be built to improve its links with the town centre. 03-Nov-1998
Norwest Co-op and Freeport Leisure are planning to open a £20m shopping complex at Talke in Staffordshire next spring, creating up to 500 jobs. 02-Nov-1998
Gripperrods is cutting 16 jobs at its floor-covering accessories factory in Cannock, following its acquisition by Gates Rubber Company. 02-Nov-1998
Leaveland Shoe, a new Chinese-owned company, is to build a shoe factory at Pembroke Dock which will create 150 jobs. 02-Nov-1998
Waterstone's is to relaunch its internet bookshop early next year in order to improve the speed and efficiency of the service. 02-Nov-1998
Stylo is expected to close a further 27 Hush Puppies shoe stores over the next six months, as part of a strategy designed to return it to profitability. 31-Oct-1998
Bestway is planning to set up cash and carry depots in Swansea and Gateshead as part of a strategy to be present in every major conurbation in England and Wales. 31-Oct-1998
Sainsbury is considering plans to open a further 10 convenience stores under the Local format over the next 18 months. 31-Oct-1998
Lidl, the discount retailer, has opened a £10m distribution centre in Weston-super-Mare and is also building a new head office in London. 31-Oct-1998
Palmer & Harvey McLane, the delivered wholesaler, is moving its head office from Brighton to Hove, and its Snowking frozen foods business will be moved from Chester to the new office. 31-Oct-1998
Waitrose has announced plans for a 30,000 sq ft store in London's Marylebone High Street. 31-Oct-1998
Hodgson's is to cut a further 50 jobs at its textiles business in Clackmannanshire. 30-Oct-1998
The McArthur Glen shopping village off the M4 at Bridgend is planning to almost double in size, with the creation of 44 new shops and more than 200 jobs. 30-Oct-1998
Morning Noon & Night is planning to open five more convenience stores by the end of the financial year, with the focus being in Scotland's central belt. 30-Oct-1998
Safeway has bought the former Wimbledon Football Club site at Plough Lane, but is still seeking planning permission for a £20m superstore. 30-Oct-1998
Tetrad, the Preston-based soft furnishing firm, is to shed 35 jobs having failed to secure a major contract. 29-Oct-1998
Land Securities has unveiled revised plans for the £60m redevelopment of York's Coppergate Centre extension, which is expected to create 750 jobs. 29-Oct-1998
Macdonald Estates and the Scotoil Group are planning to develop a £15m retail complex in Aberdeen, called the Boulevard Park. 29-Oct-1998
Milner Estates is to buy the Junction Shopping Centre in Clapham from Burford Holdings for £13m. 29-Oct-1998
Ulster Weavers Apparel is investing £1.3m in a new dyeing and finishing plant which will create 11 more jobs in Castlewellan. 28-Oct-1998
Debenhams has announced plans for two further department stores - in Basingstoke and Leith - in addition to the 17 stores already being planned for the next five years. 28-Oct-1998
Waterstone's is in talks to buy Simpson of Piccadilly and transform it into the largest bookshop in the world. 28-Oct-1998
Philip Russell, the Belfast-based drinks wholesaler, has confirmed plans to invest £3m in a chain of licensed convenience stores in Northern Ireland, creating up to 120 jobs. 27-Oct-1998
Sainsbury's is creating more than 100 jobs by expanding its Stafford supermarket at a cost of £7.5m. 26-Oct-1998
Tasou Group has cut 25 jobs at the former Dewhirst clothing factory at Little Driffield in Yorkshire. 26-Oct-1998
B&Q; is planning to invest £750m in the expansion of its DIY chain, opening 125 out-of-town stores over the next five years and creating 20,000 jobs. 26-Oct-1998
Lidl, the discount retailer, is planning to open a further 20 stores this year and will also move into Northern Ireland for the first time. 24-Oct-1998
Asda is planning to build a £15m superstore in Bishop Auckland. 24-Oct-1998
Boots is said to be planning to open 50 stores in the Netherlands over the next five years. 24-Oct-1998
Russell's Cellars, the Northern Ireland drinks retailer, is planning to move into the grocery sector with 20 new shops. 24-Oct-1998
B&Q; is said to be planning to set up three warehouses in Liverpool, creating 600 jobs. 23-Oct-1998
Readicut International has sold its Whitley Willows textile manufacturing business in West Yorkshire to management for £4m. 23-Oct-1998
Halfords is to open a car accessory store at the Welcome Break Membury service station on the M4, and similar outlets are expected to follow next year. 23-Oct-1998
Asda is to create up to 300 jobs at a national call centre near Glasgow, and Rutherglen-based City Refrigeration Holdings has won a five-year contract to run it. 23-Oct-1998
Littlewoods is said to be considering plans to open a distribution and call centre at the Estuary Commerce Park in Speke Garston, Merseyside. 23-Oct-1998
Gap is to open a new store at Sheffield's Meadowhall, and other retailers said to be looking to move into the city centre include Borders, Hennes and Sainsbury's. 23-Oct-1998
Daks Simpson is planning to open 10 stand-alone stores in the UK over the next two years. 23-Oct-1998
Forminster, operator of the Kookai chain women's fashion stores, is planning to open a further 10 stores over the next year. 23-Oct-1998
Body Shop has announced plans to refit 400 of its 1,637 stores worldwide, reduce stocks by 20% and improve the efficiency of the distribution system. 23-Oct-1998
Lewing is said to be considering the closure of its Adidas sports gear factory in Nantwich, with the loss of 150 jobs. 22-Oct-1998
Asda is planning to move its Wrexham superstore to a larger site on Holt Road, creating up to 200 jobs. 22-Oct-1998
Slimma is to close a clothing factory in Cannock, Staffordshire, with the loss of 103 jobs, and production will be moved abroad. 21-Oct-1998
Index is to open a new catalogue store in Chesterfield next month with the creation of 30 jobs. 21-Oct-1998
Boots is cutting 200 jobs at its medicines and cosmetics manufacturing division in Nottingham in order to improve efficiency. 21-Oct-1998
Gresham Bennett, the office furniture company, is building a new £5.7m headquarters and factory in Bolton. 20-Oct-1998
Peacocks, the Cardiff-based clothes retailer, is planning to invest £12m in a nationwide expansion programme that will result in 40 new clothes stores and up to 1,400 jobs over the next 14 months. 20-Oct-1998
The Sock Shop is said to be considering plans for a merger with Tie Rack. 19-Oct-1998
Midlands Co-op is developing an online shopping service that features internet, phone and fax ordering. 17-Oct-1998
Blakes Chilled Distribution is acquiring depots in Airdrie and Warrington from BOC Distribution Services. 17-Oct-1998
Asda has awarded a £6m a year contract to NFT Distribution for the distribution of chilled foods. 17-Oct-1998
HMV Media is planning to open seven Waterstone's bookshops and three HMV music shops in the UK over the next two years, as well as five superstores in North America and Europe. 15-Oct-1998
Powerhouse has confirmed plans to open a 10,000 sq ft electrical retail outlet at the Lady Bay Retail Park in Nottingham. 15-Oct-1998
Swan Hill has won approval to build the £40m Wellington Square retail scheme in Stockton, which will create 43 shop units and more than 400 jobs. 15-Oct-1998
Tranville Developments of Leeds is planning to build a superstore in Blackburn in order to regenerate the northern side of the town centre and create 400 jobs. 15-Oct-1998
Capital and Regional Properties has announced plans to refurbish Wood Green Shopping City in London, and the scheme includes a multiplex cinema, restaurants, bars and cafes. 15-Oct-1998
Waitrose is planning to build a 25,000 sq ft supermarket in South Woodford, creating 220 jobs. 15-Oct-1998
Connolly's Leather Factory in Colliers Wood is to close in order to move the head office and finishing plant closer to its tannery in Kent, and hundreds of jobs could be lost. 15-Oct-1998
Sears is postponing the demerger of its Freemans home shopping business due to trading problems and stock market turmoil. 14-Oct-1998
Cornwell Parker is looking to acquire a strong furniture brand in continental Europe in order to complement its Parker Knoll business in the UK. 14-Oct-1998
Blackwell's is to cut 20 jobs in Oxford as part of a reorganisation of its library bookselling operations in the UK and the US. 14-Oct-1998
Bairdwear is to close its former Laura Ashley clothing factory in Caernarfon with the loss of 80 jobs. 14-Oct-1998
BAA McArthur Glen has sold 75% of the Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet Centre near Chester to a consortium of Norwich Union, BP Pension Fund, Cooperative Insurance Society and NPI, for £150m. 13-Oct-1998
PillarCaisse is to sell seven UK shopping centres for £253m in order to focus on larger regional shopping malls. 13-Oct-1998
Sweet Dreams, the bed manufacturer, has bought Turkington's 81,000 sq ft former factory in Burnley and aims to create 50 new jobs. 13-Oct-1998
St Modwen Developments is planning a £16m retail scheme in Worcester, which will involve nine retail units on the banks of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. 13-Oct-1998
Synthetic Textiles, the Newry-based producer of fabrics, yarn and sewing thread for industrial use, is planning a phased close-down of its plant with the loss of 42 jobs. 13-Oct-1998
Swindon Borough Council is considering plans to sell the Brunel shopping centre, and it could fetch up to £100m. 12-Oct-1998
Marks & Spencer is considering plans to cut back its investment programme by up to £380m a year due to falling sales, and has already postponed plans to expand its retailing business in continental Europe. 12-Oct-1998
Borders of the US is planning to set up a 25,000 sq ft bookshop superstore in York, which will create 70 jobs. 12-Oct-1998
Karrimor is to shed the remaining 33 jobs at its clothing factory in Amble, Northumberland, in order to switch production overseas. 12-Oct-1998
Nicolas, the wine specialist, is planning to open its 20th branch in London by the end of the year, followed by five more next year. 12-Oct-1998
First Quench Retailing has been chosen as the new trading name for the recently-merged Thresher and Victoria Wine off-licence group. 12-Oct-1998
Alldays, the convenience store chain, is to set up three pilot stores in railways stations over the next six months. 12-Oct-1998
Robert H Lowe has failed to sell its lossmaking sportswear division, and has also confirmed that 300 jobs will be lost with the closure of its garment manufacturing business. 09-Oct-1998
Monsoon is planning to open 14 more fashion stores by the end of November. 09-Oct-1998
C&A; is looking to sell six stores, and TK Maxx, the US fashion retailer, is planning to take the Southport store. 09-Oct-1998
Bhs is to open its first factory outlet shop in Hatfield later this month. 09-Oct-1998
Next, the fashion retailer, is building a distribution centre near the Crossways shopping centre on the M25. 09-Oct-1998
British Land and Stannifer are planning a 250,000 sq ft retail and leisure complex in East Kilbride, with completion in 2001. 09-Oct-1998
Morrison Developments is planning a £10m retail and leisure development in Thamesmead, which will include a Warner Village multiplex cinema. 09-Oct-1998
Sherwood, the Nottingham-based lace and lingerie group, is in talks that could result in a £53m management buyout. 09-Oct-1998
MFI is planning to open a further six furniture home delivery centres by December, as part of a reorganisation of its UK retailing activities. 08-Oct-1998
Ottakar's is to open a new-style bookstore in Portsmouth in November, which will be its biggest store yet. 08-Oct-1998
JJB Sports is planning to open 26 more stores by January 2000, most of them superstores on which contracts have been exchanged or are near completion. 07-Oct-1998
Tesco is to close its Belfast-based information technology department, and relocate the operation to Britain. 07-Oct-1998
TK Maxx of the US is to open a fashion store in Ipswich next spring, with the creation of 50 jobs. 07-Oct-1998
Bradgate Textiles is expanding its Sileby factory to meet rising demand for its child safety seat covers and mail order home furnishings, and an extra 35 jobs are being created. 06-Oct-1998
Tesco is planning to build a 95,000 sq ft store as part of the £25m redevelopment of the Seacroft shopping centre in Leeds, creating more than 500 jobs. 06-Oct-1998
William Sugden is to close its clothing factory in Sunderland with the loss of 35 jobs. 06-Oct-1998
Centros Miller has agreed terms with the local council for the development of a £15m shopping centre in Wrexham, which will include stores operated by MVC, Bhs, and TJ Hughes. 06-Oct-1998
TK Maxx, the discount fashion retailer, is to open its first two Welsh stores this month, creating more than 100 jobs in Carmarthen and Cardiff. 05-Oct-1998
West Denton Developments has announced a £10m plan to transform the Denton Park shopping centre in Newcastle into a 500,000 sq ft Safeway superstore, a housing office, new health centre and car showroom. 05-Oct-1998
Index is to open a new catalogue store on Gateshead High Street this month, creating 30 jobs. 05-Oct-1998
Asda is to increase the number of stores offering 24-hour shopping to about 37. 03-Oct-1998
Austin Reed has put its clothing manufacturing division up for sale in order to focus on retailing. 02-Oct-1998
Somerfield is preparing to launch a home shopping service though a nationwide network of dedicated warehouses, and it is currently looking for suitable sites. 02-Oct-1998
Laura Ashley is to close 10 of its large-format clothes and furniture stores in North America this year, a greater number than previously announced. 02-Oct-1998
Sarah Coggles is to open 20 new fashion stores nationwide over the next three years, creating about 400 jobs. 02-Oct-1998
Joplings is selling its North Shields department store to First Choice, the Nottingham-based clothing retailer, but has promised to step-up investment in its other North East stores. 02-Oct-1998
Whitley Willows, the West Yorkshire-based speciality textile manufacturer, is to be bought by management in a 4m deal. 02-Oct-1998
Storehouse is to open new Bhs stores in Durham, Leicester and Oxford. 02-Oct-1998
Harvey Nichols is planning to set up a fashion store in Manchester's Shambles West development. 02-Oct-1998
British Land has raised its stake in Selfridges to 6.3%, prompting speculation that it is interested in the department store's valuable Oxford Street site in London. 01-Oct-1998
Swan Hill is planning a £40m retail development in Stockton that will include 42 shops and create more than 400 jobs. 30-Sep-1998
Coats Viyella is to close its shirts and ties plant in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland, with the loss of 29 jobs. 30-Sep-1998
Freeport Leisure is set to start building the £40m Freeport Village in Castleford, which will include 140 retail outlets and should open next August. 30-Sep-1998
Manchester United is planning to open 150 football-related retail outlets around the world over the next three years, in co-operation with travel and marketing groups. 29-Sep-1998
Oasis Stores is to open a further 12 fashion stores this year, compared to 23 last year. 29-Sep-1998
Pine Direct is opening a new head office and furniture manufacturing plant in Burnley, with the creation of 113 jobs. 28-Sep-1998
Gieves, the gentlemen's outfitter, is planning to expand its retailing presence in the UK and east Asia. 26-Sep-1998
Somerfield is to introduce home entertainment centres at 180 of its supermarkets, offering music and videos. 26-Sep-1998
Iceland Frozen Foods has awarded Wincanton Logistics a five-year £70m contract to operate a new distribution centre for the south-east. 26-Sep-1998
Out-of-town superstores have reduced the market share of other food retailers by between 13% and 50%, according to a detailed study of food store development undertaken by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. 25-Sep-1998
Albemarle & Bond, the jewellery retailing and cheque cashing company, is raising £3.5m in a share placing in order to fund the opening of 20 more stores over the next three years. 25-Sep-1998
Safeway is to close its supermarket in Sunderland city centre with the loss of about 60 jobs. 25-Sep-1998
Tesco is linking up with Grattan to launch a home-shopping service, and 350 new jobs will be created at Grattan's headquarters in Bradford. 25-Sep-1998
A report commissioned by the Office of Fair Trading has accused the big food retailers of exploiting customers and suppliers, and the OFT is expected to decide by next year whether to refer the industry to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission. 24-Sep-1998
Tranville Developments is planning to build a superstore in Blackburn that could create up to 400 jobs. 24-Sep-1998
Chartwell Land is planning to develop four new shops at the former Debenhams building in York city centre, and Blacks Leisure has already signed up for one of the outlets. 24-Sep-1998
Crest Nicholson Developments has won approval to demolish a 19th century music hall in Scarborough, to make way for a multi-million-pound shopping development. 24-Sep-1998
Wilkinsons is to build a new department store in Swindon, creating 110 jobs. 23-Sep-1998
United Norwest Co-op is considering plans to set up of a Holiday Hypermarket in the Stoke area, and is also looking at other locations throughout the country. 23-Sep-1998
Owen Owen is to close its department store in Chester with the loss of about 100 jobs, and the site will probably be broken up into three or four retail units. 23-Sep-1998
Aberdeen's City Centre Partnership has announced plans for a further £60m to be invested in the city centre, and a number of retail and leisure developments are being considered. 23-Sep-1998
Halton Borough Council has announced plans for the £20m rejuvenation of Widnes town centre, including a 16,000 sq ft retail development. 22-Sep-1998
Tesco has announced plans to step up its expansion programme by investing £300m on new stores and £200m on upgrading existing stores, and more than 10,000 jobs will be created. 22-Sep-1998
Dixons has linked up with Planet Online to launch Freeserve, which is claimed to be the UK's first free internet access provider, and believes the move will help to increase sales of its computers. 22-Sep-1998
St Modwen has announced plans to redevelop the centre of Newcastle-under-Lyme, including a new shopping mall for 35 stores. 21-Sep-1998
Alchemy, the venture capital concern, is said to be considering a bid for Allied Carpets. 19-Sep-1998
FII Group, the footwear manufacturer, is to close its operations in Stafford with the loss of 130 jobs. 19-Sep-1998
Holland & Barrett is planning to open a further 30 health food stores throughout the country. 19-Sep-1998
Mansions Food Hall is planning to open delicatessen stores in every major urban centre in Scotland. 19-Sep-1998
Tesco is planning to set up two major distribution centres close to London, and is already thought to have agreed to use Capital & Regional's Dolfin site at Thurrock. 18-Sep-1998
Wm Morrison is to open a further eight stores across the country over the next 18 months, as part of an expansion plan that will create at least 2,800 jobs. 18-Sep-1998
Wills Group, the textile company, has been placed in administration, putting 900 jobs in seven North West factories at risk. 18-Sep-1998
Bairdwear is to close its leisure clothing factory in Ellesmere Port with the loss of 140 jobs. 18-Sep-1998
Nike is to open its first retail outlet in Scotland at a £25m retail site in Tillicoultry, which will create nearly 500 jobs. 18-Sep-1998
Cooperative Wholesale Society is to start testing its new convenience stores in November, and is planning to expand its chain of 630 outlets by about 200 over the next three years. 17-Sep-1998
Toys R Us is planning a restructuring that will result in the closure of up to 50 European toy shops, mainly in France and Germany, and the creation of a new format that will offer a broader range of products for families. 17-Sep-1998
Stockhurst has gone into voluntary liquidation and its Save-a-Lot store in Preston has been closed with the loss of 40 jobs. 17-Sep-1998
Budgens, the supermarket group, has pulled out of merger talks with Booker, apparently due to disagreement over price. 16-Sep-1998
Freeport Leisure is to open three retail centres over the next year, including a £20m centre near Newcastle-under-Lyme, a £45m centre in Castleford and a £35m centre in Braintree. 16-Sep-1998
Meggitt Petroleum Systems has developed a new petrol pump system that allows drivers to buy products such as fast food or a car wash token while waiting for their fuel tanks to fill. 16-Sep-1998
Blackwell's is planning to bid for Heffers, the Cambridge-based book retailer. 16-Sep-1998
Sainsbury is said to be discussing the acquisition of a Torquay pharmacy in order to gain a pharmacy licence for its superstore, which could prompt a spate of similar deals across the country. 16-Sep-1998
Waterstone's is planning a £5.5m expansion at its Nottingham book store, which will increase selling space from 5,000 sq ft to 30,000 sq ft. 16-Sep-1998
Asda is to open a new regional distribution centre in Washington, Tyne & Wear, later this month to serve stores in the North East and Cumbria, creating 500 jobs. 15-Sep-1998
Virgin Group is negotiating the sale of its 229 Our Price music shops to a management team, but will keep the 88 Virgin megastores. 14-Sep-1998
Bourne End Properties is to acquire the Clarendon shopping centre in Hyde, Manchester, from MEPC for £13m. 14-Sep-1998
Delancey Estates is acquiring the Darwin shopping centre in Shrewsbury from Burford Investment Company for £35m. 14-Sep-1998
British Textile Manufacturing Company is to cut 20 jobs at its Ballymoney textiles factory in Northern Ireland, due to the effect of the strength of sterling on exports. 14-Sep-1998
Dewhirst Group has sold its Little Driffield clothing factory in East Yorkshire to the Tasou Group, and will transfer production abroad. 14-Sep-1998
Asda is to offer advice to customers on common illnesses by setting up interactive touchscreen pharmacy information points in 50 stores. 12-Sep-1998
Somerfield is to recruit a further 100 staff for its computer department in Bristol. 12-Sep-1998
Kingfisher is considering plans to open out-of-town Woolworths stores, and is to set up a 70,000 sq ft retail shed outside Edinburgh next year. 11-Sep-1998
Debenhams Retail is planning to set up a new office base in Wimpole Street, London, following its demerger from the Burton Group. 11-Sep-1998
BAA McArthurGlen is planning to spend up to £900m opening factory outlets in Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, and it will sell stakes in existing UK outlets to help fund the project. 11-Sep-1998
Textilion is to close its clothing plant at North Shields with the loss of 230 jobs, having failed to find a buyer for the plant. 11-Sep-1998
PetsMart is planning to open 100 more pet stores by the end of next year, and 250 jobs will be set aside for the over-50s. 11-Sep-1998
B&Q; and MFI are planning to swap their superstore sites in York and about 200 new jobs will be created in the redevelopment. 11-Sep-1998
Marks & Spencer is planning a £45m office and retail complex in the City of London, which will include its second largest store in London. 10-Sep-1998
Music Choice, the digital audio service set up by BSkyB, Warner Music and Sony Music, is to launch a music and video store on the internet in October. 10-Sep-1998
Boots is acquiring Wilson's Dentistry of the West Midlands for £250,000 as part of a plan to run a trial of six dental practices, some of which will be in its stores. 10-Sep-1998
Iceland, the frozen food retailer, has announced plans to extend its home delivery service throughout the UK, and will use the call centre that was set up for its domestic appliance business. 09-Sep-1998
P&O; is planning to open warehouses in three French ports to sell alcohol and tobacco at low French rates of duty, in order to minimise the impact of the loss of its duty-free business from next June. 09-Sep-1998
Pentland is looking to sell or close its fashion footwear business in the US and its Pony footwear business in the UK, due to continuing losses at the two divisions. 09-Sep-1998
Marks & Spencer is pressing its clothing suppliers to make greater use of foreign labour in order to cut costs and keep retail prices down. 08-Sep-1998
Booker is planning a reverse takeover of Budgens to create a major food distribution group with annual sales of over £5bn. 08-Sep-1998
Asda is planning to demolish its store in Havant and replace it with a state-of-the-art hypermarket that will be open 24 hours a day and create 100 jobs. 07-Sep-1998
C&A; is to close its department stores in Blackburn, Salisbury, Shrewsbury, Walsall, Southport and Birkenhead, as part of an ongoing reorganisation. 05-Sep-1998
Heffers, the Cambridge-based chain of book shops, has been put up for sale. 04-Sep-1998
MFI, the furniture retailer, is to create 120 jobs at a call centre in Sunderland Enterprise Park. 04-Sep-1998
Tesco has become the leading European grocery retailer in terms of sales, a position previously held by Aldi of Germany, according to a report by Strategic Vision. 04-Sep-1998
Wickes is to refit 36 of its DIY stores to offer more decorative products next year, and all the remaining stores will be converted to the new format by 2002. 04-Sep-1998
Monsoon plans to open a further 40 women's fashion stores over the next year, as it claims that store locations have become easier to find. 03-Sep-1998
Littlewoods is planning to expand its telephone customer service centre in Sunderland, creating an extra 600 jobs over the next two years. 03-Sep-1998
Jarlow is planning a £45m retail and leisure scheme in Glasgow on the site of the former Post Office in George Square. 03-Sep-1998
Hampden group is closing its five Rosebys Textiles shops in Northern Ireland, and restructuring its head office and management at its Texas Homebase stores, in response to falling sales. 02-Sep-1998
Ikea is planning to open a new furniture store in Eastville, Bristol, next April, creating 350 jobs. 02-Sep-1998
Asda is to open four new stores in Scotland with the creation of 1,000 jobs, and they will be located in Elgin, Hamilton, Robroyston, and Clydebank. 02-Sep-1998
Safeway and Abbey National are to create the UK's largest in-store bank network, and 160 jobs will be created as the scheme is rolled out to a further 25 Asda branches over the next year. 02-Sep-1998
Home shopping is forecast to grow from 4.6% of all retail sales in 1997 to 5.8% in 2002, but the growth will be driven by specialist mail order catalogues rather than electronic shopping, according to a new study by Verdict. 01-Sep-1998
Austin Reed, the menswear retailer, is in discussions to sell its manufacturing business, which includes plants in Crewe, Yorkshire and Ireland, to a management team. 31-Aug-1998
Tesco is in discussions to set up 10 Express convenience stores on Esso forecourts. 29-Aug-1998
Somerfield has withdrawn from discussions on a possible takeover of the Booker food distribution group, due to concerns over the possible commercial risks of such a deal. 29-Aug-1998
Fruit of the Loom of the US is to close its sewing plant at Dungloe in Co Donegal with the loss of 48 jobs, prompting speculation that it may close T-shirt factories in Derry and Donegal with the loss of up to 3,500 jobs. 28-Aug-1998
Tesco is planning to build a superstore in Beverley with the creation of 300 new jobs, but the plans are being strongly opposed by local traders. 28-Aug-1998
Supreme Knitwear is to expand its factory in Stockton and take on 40 new staff, and it is hoped that the new buildings will eventually house 300 workers. 28-Aug-1998
Edinburgh Council is planning a £100m underground shopping centre in the city. 27-Aug-1998
Holland & Barrett, the health food retailer, is planning to build a £9m distribution centre in Atherstone. 27-Aug-1998
The Rael Brook City Shirt Factory in Londonderry is to close due to the effect of cheap foreign imports, and 197 jobs will be lost. 27-Aug-1998
Airsprung Furniture is closing its Casterbridge Furniture cabinet subsidiary due to the loss of a major customer. 27-Aug-1998
William Wilson, the Aberdeen-based heating and electrical wholesaler, is to open a new depot at Solihull in the West Midlands, creating 12 jobs. 25-Aug-1998
Aldi, the discount food retailer, is to build a distribution centre just outside Chelmsford. 25-Aug-1998
Booker Wholesale Foods is to close its distribution centre in Norwich in October with the loss of 80 jobs, and the business will be transferred to a new £20m centre in Northampton. 25-Aug-1998
Tesco is to cut back its recruitment drive following a review of its business, and other retailers are expected to follow in order to cut costs in a tough market. 24-Aug-1998
Tesco and Sainsbury are said to be considering plans to launch car insurance products. 24-Aug-1998
Safeway is planning to spend £40m developing its stores in Northern Ireland, including new stores in Omagh and Downpatrick, with the creation of 250 jobs. 24-Aug-1998
Farmer Giles is planning to launch a chain of franchised organic food shops in the south-east, including its own cash and carry in Uxbridge and a food delivery service around London. 24-Aug-1998
Sainsbury is unveiling the new format for its Savacentre chain of hypermarkets and the first store to be revamped is in Reading, while separately it has announced an alliance with Adams for the sale of children's clothing. 24-Aug-1998
Tesco is in discussions with Esso which could lead to the formation of a joint venture to introduce Tesco Express convenience stores onto Esso petrol forecourts, and the Office of Fair Trading is to examine the implications of any such deal. 21-Aug-1998
Marks & Spencer is planning to restructure its 289 stores around 40 regional superstores, and some will have their menswear departments transferred to outlets recently acquired from Littlewoods. 20-Aug-1998
Game, the entertainment software retailer, is to open a further five stores by September and a further 50 by May 2001 to add to the existing 65. 20-Aug-1998
Somerfield is in merger discussions with Booker, which would create a food distribution and retailing business with sales of more than £11bn. 18-Aug-1998
The DIY market grew by 10% to £11.7bn in 1997, boosted by a number of new decorating programmes shown on TV, according to a report from Verdict. 17-Aug-1998
Laura Ashley is planning to introduce a range of perfumes into its stores from next year. 17-Aug-1998
Asda is planning to open more than 40 Lloyds TSB bank branches in its stores this year. 17-Aug-1998
Lloyds Chemists has sold Nature's Store, the wholesaler of health food products, to management for £2.6m. 17-Aug-1998
Alldays is to install De La Rue terminals in its 800 convenience stores to enable customers to pre-pay electricity and other utility bills. 17-Aug-1998
Waitrose is launching home delivery at its Kingston store in London, and will roll-out the service to 17 other stores in the autumn. 17-Aug-1998
Tesco is said to be preparing to announce plans to move into the discount retail sector in Korea. 17-Aug-1998
Wm Morrision has bought two superstores from Co-operative Retail Services, one in Hull and one in Chingford, and is now planning to expand its chain of 95 stores to 102 next year. 15-Aug-1998
Fosters, the menswear retailer, is moving out of administration having agreed a deal with creditors, and is now left with about 40 of its most profitable outlets. 14-Aug-1998
British Land has bought a 3.1% stake in Selfridges, prompting speculation that it may be seeking to benefit from any future sale of the retailer's property assets. 13-Aug-1998
Allied Domecq and Whitbread have agreed terms for the merger of their drinks retailing chains, which will improve their ability to compete with the major supermarkets by reducing central costs and improving purchasing power. 13-Aug-1998
Games Workshop, the maker of fantasy games, is planning to open a further 35 stores this year and expand the mail order side of the business, in order to increase international sales. 13-Aug-1998
Bertelsmann of Germany is said to be planning to set up a UK distribution centre to handle books, music and the consumer products of other companies. 12-Aug-1998
Headlam is looking to spend up to £100m on an acquisition in order to expand its range of home furnishings. 12-Aug-1998
Kingfisher is discussing the possible acquisition of Castorama, the French DIY retailer, for about £2bn, although other forms of co-operation between the two companies are also on the agenda. 11-Aug-1998
Alpha Airports has failed to find a suitable buyer for its worldwide chain of duty-free outlets, and has therefore withdrawn the division from the market. 11-Aug-1998
J Sainsbury is testing a new scheme that will allow village shopkeepers to use their local supermarket as a wholesaler and build up loyalty points, the first time Sainsbury has allowed its own-brand products to be sold elsewhere. 10-Aug-1998
Electronics Boutique is planning to open a further 20 software stores before the end of the year, to add to the existing 158. 10-Aug-1998
Carphone Warehouse is acquiring GEAB, the Swedish telecoms retailer, and will gain from GEAB's experience in helping Scandinavian mobile phone penetration reach 40%. 10-Aug-1998
Iceland, the frozen food retailer, is to launch a nationwide home delivery service, which will enable customers to order by telephone. 10-Aug-1998
Supermarket sales of own-label groceries are flattening out and some products have already begun to decline, according to new research from Taylor Nelson Sofres. 08-Aug-1998
Booker, the food distributor and cash-and-carry, has announced that discussions are taking place that could lead to a merger, prompting speculation that Metro of Germany may be interested. 08-Aug-1998
Asda has started introducing "grey market" stalls to its shops offering designer products without the consent of brand owners, thereby defying a European Court ban. 07-Aug-1998
Country Gardens has announced plans to buy more garden centres and is seeking planning permission to build five of its own on the outskirts of towns. 06-Aug-1998
Virgin is delaying the launch of its internet music and video store in order to set up a network of sites targeted at specific countries where its Megastore chain is already established. 05-Aug-1998
Scottish retailers in the non-food sector have performed significantly worse than retailers in other parts of the UK over the last two years, according to a new economic index developed by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Edinburgh University. 05-Aug-1998
Tesco has announced plans to more than double the number of stores opening 24 hours to 63, creating 600 jobs. 05-Aug-1998
A number of major retailing and financial services groups are planning to sell electricity when domestic power markets are opened up to competition this autumn, according to a report from PriceWaterhouse Coopers. 03-Aug-1998
Borders is opening its first UK books and music superstore in London's Oxford Street, and is to cut 30% off the price of 40 best-selling books in a move that could provoke a price war. 01-Aug-1998
Chrysalis is acquiring a 75% stake in Ramboro Books, the cut-price bookseller. 01-Aug-1998
The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate the supermarket sector, following criticism that the big four retailers may not be passing on the benefits of their buying power to consumers. 31-Jul-1998
Boots is planning a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation to expand into the Japanese pharmacy market, and will open four stores in Tokyo next year. 29-Jul-1998
Harvey Nichols has confirmed plans to set up a second stand-alone restaurant in London's financial district early next year. 28-Jul-1998
Capital Radio is linking up with Telstar to set up an internet record store in September, and they also intend to diversify into videos and related products. 28-Jul-1998
IMVS is looking to raise capital to expand its internet retailing business into other European countries, and one possibility is a flotation on Aim. 27-Jul-1998
Eurotunnel has announced plans to develop its retailing activities in terminals and trains, including factory shops and DIY stores at its Calais terminal. 25-Jul-1998
Booker is to sell its 40% stakes in food and distribution in Portugal and Poland to its joint venture partner Jeronimo Martins of Portugal, for £72m. 21-Jul-1998
The UK furniture market grew by 10% to £8.7bn in 1997, but a slowdown in growth is forecast for 1998, according to a report from Verdict. 20-Jul-1998
Creation Records has dropped plans to export records from its internet store, as Sony said it would breach their distribution agreement. 20-Jul-1998
Prudential has increased its stake in the Bluewater retail and leisure development in Kent from 15% to 35% for undisclosed terms, and has an option to acquire up to 50%. 18-Jul-1998
Tesco and Asda have expressed disappointment over a new ruling by the European Court of Justice that prevents retailers from importing lower-priced branded goods from outside Europe and reselling them without the approval of the brand owner. 17-Jul-1998
The Post Office is negotiating a number of overseas acquisitions and joint ventures in anticipation of being granted greater commercial freedom or part privatisation by the government. 16-Jul-1998
BP and Safeway have announced plans to set up a chain of 100 mini-supermarkets at petrol stations over the next four years, creating 2,000 jobs. 16-Jul-1998
Robert Dyas, the chain of hardware stores, has taken itself off the market having failed to find a suitable bidder. 16-Jul-1998
Allied Carpets has had its shares suspended following the discovery of irregularities in the recording of sales at some of its carpet stores. 14-Jul-1998
Daks Simpson is to close its Piccadilly clothes store in London, with the loss of up to 150 jobs, as part of a strategy to focus on specialised outlets and in-store concessions. 11-Jul-1998
Somerfield is planning a £1bn investment programme, that will involve the creation of 5,000 jobs and the conversion of more than 800 recently-acquired Kwik Save stores to the Somerfield format. 10-Jul-1998
Dixons is planning to open 100 new stores, including 13 PC Worlds, and create 2,000 new jobs, despite a slowdown in consumer spending. 09-Jul-1998
John Menzies is planning to spend over £100m on acquisitions to expand its distribution business, and is particularly keen on the delivery market where it expects a boom in home shopping. 08-Jul-1998
Budgens is to relaunch its B2 convenience store in Pimlico, central London, with major changes to the range and an interior refit, and then expects to roll out the new concept to the rest of the chain. 08-Jul-1998
Virgin Group is acquiring WH Smith's 75% stake in the Our Price music retailing business for £145m, and intends to manage the smaller outlets separately from the megastores. 08-Jul-1998
Dawn Til Dusk is planning to open one new store a month over the next year. 08-Jul-1998
The Association for Payment Clearing Services is preparing plans for the introduction of chip-based plastic smart cards, with the first such cards being issued early next year. 08-Jul-1998
Waterstone's has announced a £14m expansion programme that will see the opening of seven new bookstores, including a £3m superstore at London's Oxford Circus, and the conversion of 48 of its recently-acquired Dillons stores. 08-Jul-1998
The Bluewater shopping centre near Dartford is beginning a roadshow across the south-east of England in order to recruit 6,700 staff in preparation for its opening next March. 08-Jul-1998
Waitrose is launching an internet-based grocery store that will deliver to people's offices. 06-Jul-1998
Tesco is to become an internet service provider, targeting TescoNet at families who want an easy-to-use low-cost service. 02-Jul-1998
Dawson International is to close two Scottish textile factories with the loss of 720 jobs, due partly to a change of fashion towards lighter weight fabrics. 01-Jul-1998
MFI, the furniture retailer, has announced a restructuring plan that will cut 1,500 jobs and reduce the number of products it sells by almost 60% by returning to its core business of kitchens and bedrooms. 01-Jul-1998
Amazon, the US online bookseller, is to launch a UK retail site on the internet this autumn, in order to offer a more efficient service to European customers. 01-Jul-1998
Industry associations and consumer groups across the EU have agreed a set of principles to enable hotels and shops to accept payments in euros as well as national currencies from January. 01-Jul-1998
Tesco is planning to set up a nationwide chain of over 100 Tesco Express petrol stations with small shops attached. 29-Jun-1998
Next is to close a number of lossmaking fashion stores in the US, France and Belgium, but will continue to maintain its international franchise operation that includes 43 stores in Europe and the Middle East. 26-Jun-1998
Asda is to invest £5m this year on a number of new initiatives including an internet store selling music, videos and books, a satellite TV shopping channel and a new home delivery service. 26-Jun-1998
Victory Corporation has scaled back the expansion programme for its chain of six Virgin-branded cosmetics and clothing stores, and will now only open a further three this year. 25-Jun-1998
Sears has announced plans to demerge the Selfridges department store in London, with dealings in the new shares expected to start on July 20. 24-Jun-1998
Watson & Philip is planning to open 90-100 Alldays convenience stores in the second half of this year, with most being franchised. 24-Jun-1998
Carpetright has scaled back its expansion plans due to difficult trading conditions, and it will now open only 12 new stores over the next year compared to 42 last year. 24-Jun-1998
Ciro Citterio has bought 26 shops from The Sweater Shop, thereby securing 250 jobs. 23-Jun-1998
Body Shop International's shareholders have approved a plan for the cosmetics retailer to restructure its lossmaking US business, which will see Bellamy Retail Group gain an option to acquire about half of the operation. 23-Jun-1998
Marks & Spencer is to delay indefinitely plans to set up a franchise chain in Australia in conjunction with Just Jeans, due to the weakening Australian dollar. 23-Jun-1998
Harvey Nichols is planning to open a flagship department store in the Middle East in conjunction with a franchise partner, and an announcement is expected by the autumn. 23-Jun-1998
Asprey is considering plans to sell off its Watches of Switzerland and Mappin and Webb shops, in response to falling sales in its upmarket jewellery business. 19-Jun-1998
Sketchley, the dry cleaning and industrial textiles group, has announced the termination of talks with a potential bidder, but talks are still taking place with Mr Minit for the sale of its retail division. 19-Jun-1998
Oliver is planning a rights issue in order to raise £5.5m for the expansion of its two new shoe retailing formats - Olivers Timpson and Shoeright. 18-Jun-1998
Courts, the electrical and furniture retailer, is planning to open up to 10 UK superstores this year with an emphasis on northern England. 18-Jun-1998
Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers is planning to open 40 convenience stores per year as part of an ongoing expansion programme for its One Stop Community Stores chain. 17-Jun-1998
Asda is planning to spend £30m adding drive-through restaurants to 60 of its stores, with the first opening in Canterbury next month. 15-Jun-1998
New Look, the chain of fashion shops, has raised £82m in a flotation in order to reduce debt and prepare for the next phase of expansion. 13-Jun-1998
Argos is to close its five lossmaking stores in the Netherlands, which were set up in February in a £7m pilot scheme. 13-Jun-1998
Alphameric is acquiring Computer 100, the developer of Epos systems for retailers, for £3.9m. 12-Jun-1998
Tesco is planning to open a further 21 stores in the UK this year, as part of an expansion programme that will create about 10,000 jobs. 12-Jun-1998
Freepages is to set up a home shopping service in partnership with Cendant of the US, offering products that cost more than £40. 11-Jun-1998
Granada Food Services has won a contract to run the catering operations at Littlewoods' 90 retail outlets, which will be worth £375m over the next seven years. 08-Jun-1998
Tesco has warned that its plans to build two superstores in Dublin could be hit by new planning guidelines issued by the Irish government in order to limit out-of-town retailing. 08-Jun-1998
Ambient Media has announced a deal with Nottingham City Council which will see the launch of a civic loyalty card scheme to enable shoppers in the city to accumulate and redeem points at participating stores. 06-Jun-1998
La Senza, the lingerie retailer, is to be acquired by a newly-formed company called Xunely, following the recommendation of a 10p-per-share offer. 05-Jun-1998
Heal's has announced that it expects to open another department store outside London in the near future, to add to the existing one in Guildford and two in London. 04-Jun-1998
Marks & Spencer is planning a fundamental review of its entire business and will bring in a number of management consultants to advise on its structure, merchandising, and international development. 04-Jun-1998
Boots is said to have received a number of takeover approaches for its Do It All DIY chain, and the venture capital group Alchemy Partners is said to be one of the interested parties. 04-Jun-1998
Tesco is test-marketing a pension product at 20 of its stores, in a joint venture between its Tesco Personal Finance division and Scottish Widows. 03-Jun-1998
Dawson International, the textile company, has put itself up for sale following a warning of trading problems in its main markets, and a large number of redundancies are expected soon. 29-May-1998
Tesco is being sued by the Tommy Hilfiger US fashion label for allegedly selling counterfeit caps and T-shirts, which is likely to highlight the growing concern over how some supermarket chains are sourcing upmarket branded goods. 29-May-1998
Sketchley is said to be in exclusive negotiations with UBS Capital, the owner of Mr Minit, over the sale of its dry-cleaning and photo-processing retail division, and a deal is expected by the end of June. 29-May-1998
Allders is planning to open two new At Home furnishing stores in Chester and Chichester, creating around 150 jobs. 28-May-1998
Thorn, the rentals group, is planning to sell off a number of businesses in order to focus on its core UK operations, which will probably result in its withdrawal from the Americas, the Asia Pacific, and Scandinavia. 28-May-1998
Powerhouse Holdings, the electrical appliances retailer, is planning to expand its chain of superstores from 39 to 50 and then hopes to undergo a flotation next year. 27-May-1998
WH Smith is in negotiations to sell its 75% stake in the Our Price music chain to Virgin for over £135m, and a deal could be agreed next month. 26-May-1998
Storehouse is looking to expand into the home furnishings market and is also planning to refurbish its smaller Mothercare outlets and add an extra 12 Bhs stores, creating 1,500 jobs. 22-May-1998
The government is to abolish price fixing on electrical goods, which will make it illegal for manufacturers to recommend retail prices to retailers and will prevent discount retailers from being discriminated against by suppliers. 21-May-1998
J Sainsbury has sold its 19% stake in Giant Food, the US retailer, to Ahold of the Netherlands, but says the sale does not mean it is planning to pull out of the US market. 20-May-1998
Marks & Spencer has confirmed its commitment to a £2.2bn expansion plan that will include an extra 1.5m sq ft of retail space in the UK and 900,000 sq ft overseas. 20-May-1998
Fine Art Developments, the mail order retailer, is looking to expand its educational supplies business this year by acquisition. 19-May-1998
Tesco is acquiring a controlling stake in Lotus, the Thailand-based retailer, for £200m and will invest a further £150m setting up a further 12 hypermarkets in the country over the next four years. 19-May-1998
Asda and Kingfisher are said to have called off possible merger talks, although Asda says the discussions were to explore ways of working together in areas where the two retailers overlap. 18-May-1998
Marks & Spencer is to re-enter the market for organic fruit and vegetables, as it says that customer demand is now higher than it was when it last introduced them in the early 1990s. 16-May-1998
Boots has announced plans to open 40 pharmacies in Thailand at a cost of £9m, following a trial period which showed the potential for its health-and-beauty format. 14-May-1998
Sainsbury is negotiating the purchase of Christian Salvesen's lossmaking frozen food distribution site near Elstree for about £10m, and may seek to redevelop the facility. 14-May-1998
Ahold, the Dutch food retailer, is considering plans to expand into the UK, Germany and France, in a re-think of its European strategy. 13-May-1998
Tops Estates has bought the Victoria Shopping Centre in Harrogate from the National Provident Institution for £23m. 13-May-1998
Development Securities is to develop a £74m out-of-town shopping centre on behalf of Pillar Property at Broughton Park near Chester. 13-May-1998
GAME, the computer games retailer, is to raise about £10m in a flotation in order to fund the expansion of its chain from 65 outlets to at least 120 over the next three years. 12-May-1998
Tesco is in discussions to acquire a £150m substantial minority stake in the Lotus chain of hypermarkets in Thailand. 11-May-1998
Parisa, the off-licence chain recently bought by its management from Greenalls, is planning a stockmarket flotation. 11-May-1998
Sainsbury is planning to build an energy-efficient supermarket near the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, east London, which will include a range of environmentally-friendly features that could be used at other stores in the future. 09-May-1998
The government is to press ahead with plans to abolish price-fixing in over-the-counter medicines, prompting fears among some small pharmacists that they could be forced out of business. 09-May-1998
Co-operative Retail Services is developing a universal smart card in order to offer financial services and promote customer loyalty, in partnership with the Co-operative bank and the Co-operative Wholesale Society. 08-May-1998
Matalan is to raise £10.3m in a flotation on May 14, some of which will be used to refurbish and expand its chain of out-of-town clothes shops. 08-May-1998
N Brown is said to be considering a second approach to acquire Freemans, the catalogue retailer. 07-May-1998
Whittard of Chelsea is considering plans to set up a chain of 100 kitchen stores over the next three years, selling kitchen utensils and storage jars. 04-May-1998
Boots is said to have started discussions with a number of venture capitalists about the sale of its Do It All chain of DIY stores for £100m. 04-May-1998
Oliver is to raise £5.7m in a share placing in order to finance the conversion of its shoe shops into two new formats - a family format and a value format. 01-May-1998
Shell is to open its first non-petrol 24-hour convenience store in the Strand, London, under the Shell Select brand, in what is seen as a response to recent moves by the leading retailing groups to offer petrol. 01-May-1998
Grampian Holdings is planning to open 100 Edinburgh Woollen Mill clothes shops over the next three years, and will sell off its branded leisure goods business in order to fund the expansion. 30-Apr-1998
Shell has launched its Smart loyalty card scheme nationwide, which will enable customers to collect points for money spent at 15 different retailers and then redeem them for discounts with those retailers. 30-Apr-1998
Frogmore Estates is to redevelop Manchester's Corn Exchange building as a 24-hour leisure and retail centre, and is looking for prospective tenants in preparation for next year's opening. 29-Apr-1998
Debenhams has announced plans for an additional six new stores, which along with the 10 previously announced would create 6,000 jobs. 28-Apr-1998
The Co-operative Wholesale Society is introducing a new format for its non-food department stores, which includes the use of large photographic panels, flexible display signage and new floor finishes. 27-Apr-1998
Sony Music has begun selling MiniDisc recordings on its internet site, its first move into online retailing. 25-Apr-1998
Alpha Airports expects to complete the sale of its retail arm within two months in order to focus on catering and baggage handling. 24-Apr-1998
Game, the computer games retailer, is planning to double the size of its chain to 120 within three years, and funding will come from a £45m share placing later this spring. 23-Apr-1998
JJB Sports expects to open a further 50 sports shops this year, to add to the current 202. 23-Apr-1998
DFS Furniture is to open up to 20 new stores over the next three years, with five due to open before August 1998. 23-Apr-1998
Budgens is planning to open a further 20 Xpress convenience stores on Q8 petrol station forecourts over the next two years. 23-Apr-1998
Tesco is to open 26 UK stores this year, and has outlined plans to double overseas investment this year with particular emphasis on Ireland and central Europe. 22-Apr-1998
Sainsbury is to reduce the number of Homebase DIY stores that sell kitchens from 152 to 111, putting 150 jobs at risk. 21-Apr-1998
Matalan, the out-of-town clothing retailer, is to raise £15m of new money in a flotation next month in order to pay off debts, while it also plans to open 10 new stores this year. 21-Apr-1998
Whittard of Chelsea has opened its first tea and coffee shop in Chile, and is now looking for franchisees to open shops in Germany and the US. 20-Apr-1998
Laura Ashley, the troubled fashion retailer, is to be saved by Malaysian United Industries who have promised to inject £44m of new equity and take a 40% stake. 18-Apr-1998
Safeway is to relaunch its ABC loyalty card by offering double or triple reward points to customers who spend more than £160 or £240 per month respectively. 17-Apr-1998
House of Hardy has bought the Farlow upmarket fishing and country clothes shop in Pall Mall, London. 17-Apr-1998
Electronics Boutique, the computer games retailer, is planning to add 30 stores to its current 150 this year, and is also looking to expand into Germany, France, Spain and Sweden. 15-Apr-1998
Borders of the US is to open a book and music superstore in Brighton in the autumn, followed by one in London next spring. 11-Apr-1998
Laura Ashley is expected to announce the closure of some of its large US stores later this month, as part of a restructuring of its lossmaking US business. 11-Apr-1998
Coats Viyella is closing its children's and ladies-wear factory in Sutton in Ashfield, with the loss of 400 jobs. 10-Apr-1998
Great Universal Stores has increased its hostile takeover offer for Argos to £1.9bn, and says it will not raise the offer further unless a white knight bidder emerges. 09-Apr-1998
New Look, the fashion retailer, is planning to raise £100m in a flotation in order to repay debt, redeem preference shares, and finance a roll-out of 150 stores. 09-Apr-1998
C&J; Clark, the shoe retailer, is undergoing a review of its options following its return to profitability, and a flotation could result. 09-Apr-1998
James Beattie is considering plans to invest £18m in the expansion of its existing department stores, the opening of new stores and possibly an acquisition. 09-Apr-1998
Boots is acquiring Connors Pharmacy Chain, which has 25 stores in Northern Ireland and five in the Republic of Ireland, for £18m. 08-Apr-1998
Signet is planning to open 25 jewellery stores in US shopping malls, as well as 10 off-mall Jared superstores. 08-Apr-1998
Moss Bros is planning to open 10 new menswear stores this year, and has identified 40 potential sites. 07-Apr-1998
Goldsmiths is planning to open up to 20 jewellery stores over the next year, having opened 15 over the last year. 07-Apr-1998
Umbro is selling its sportswear manufacturing plants in Cheshire and Ellesmere Port in order to focus on branding and sales, while Robert H Lowe will supply Umbro with its branded football gear. 06-Apr-1998
Freeport Leisure is to raise £63m in a rights issue in order to fund the development of two new discount factory outlets. 06-Apr-1998
J Sainsbury has confirmed plans to launch a home shopping service at 32 of its larger stores, enabling customers to order groceries via phone, fax or internet, and about 500 jobs will be created. 06-Apr-1998
French Connection, the fashion retailer, is planning to move into mail order and cosmetics, and will also open a flagship store for the Nicole Farhi designer label in New York. 02-Apr-1998
Dixons is to acquire the Byte computer retailing business from Specialist Computer Holdings for about £7m, and will add the 16 Byte stores to its chain of 50 PC World outlets. 01-Apr-1998
MFI is said to be planning to make a number of management changes over the next few weeks in order to revitalise its furniture retailing business. 31-Mar-1998
DFS, the duty-free shopping chain operated by LVMH, is to hold back payments to suppliers following problems caused by a decline in sales in the Asia-Pacific region. 31-Mar-1998
WH Smith is to return £250m to shareholders following the sale of its Waterstone's bookshop chain to a consortium backed by EMI and Advent of the US. 31-Mar-1998
T&S; Stores is to install 500 machines in its convenience stores to enable customers to pay their utility bills, and may also install some ATMs. 31-Mar-1998
Argos, the catalogue retailer, is said to be planning a £350m share buy-back in order to force Great Universal Stores to increase its £1.6bn hostile takeover bid. 28-Mar-1998
De La Rue is acquiring a 20% stake in Ingenico, the French supplier of electronic payment systems to retailers, for £24m and the two companies will jointly develop payment systems for smart cards. 28-Mar-1998
Borders of the US has confirmed plans to open a book superstore in Glasgow in November, but will open stores in London and Leeds before then. 27-Mar-1998
Next, the fashion retailer, has issued a profits warning following its first fall in sales for eight years, which has been blamed on poor stock control and concentrating too much on high fashion. 27-Mar-1998
Minit Group is in discussions to acquire the dry cleaning and photo-processing division of Sketchley. 27-Mar-1998
Argos is planning to link up with Littlewoods to launch a fashion and furnishings catalogue, but the move will be abandoned if Great Universal Stores succeeds with its £1.6bn bid for Argos. 26-Mar-1998
Sears is setting up a joint venture with Equifax of the US to offer financial services through its store card. 26-Mar-1998
Clinton Cards is planning to open up to 40 outlets this year to add to the existing 476. 26-Mar-1998
Iceland, the food retailer, is in discussions with BSkyB about setting up a home shopping service via television later this year, and it is also planning a telephone ordering service. 25-Mar-1998
Dairy Farm International has placed its 11% stake in the merged Somerfield/Kwik Save food retailing business with institutional investors for £180m. 25-Mar-1998
Matalan is planning to raise £20m in a flotation in early summer in order to reduce debt and step up the expansion programme for its chain of out-of-town clothing stores. 25-Mar-1998
Boots has confirmed plans to start offering insurance products for accidents, pregnancy, travel and dental care, at 250 of its largest stores next month. 25-Mar-1998
Alexon, the womenswear retailer, is looking for acquisitions in order to establish new niches in the market. 24-Mar-1998
Boots is to announce plans to sell health and travel insurance to holders of its Advantage store card. 20-Mar-1998
Wm Morrison is planning to create 2,400 jobs this year and open a further six supermarkets, including two in the south. 20-Mar-1998
Kingfisher says it could afford to spend up to £1bn on a European acquisition, and has also announced plans to expand the Woolworths home shopping catalogue following successful trials. 19-Mar-1998
Booker is launching a strategic review that may include disposals and share buybacks following a fall in profits, but it is expected to retain its cash-and-carry and food distribution businesses. 18-Mar-1998
Iceland is claiming to be the first UK retailer to have removed genetically modified ingredients from its own label products, as it aims to exploit a new environmental niche in the market. 18-Mar-1998
Sports Division, the Scottish sports retailing chain, has denied reports that it may abandon plans for a flotation due to weak retailing demand, but says it will wait for conditions to be right. 18-Mar-1998
Tesco is to set up polling stations at its stores in Croydon as part of an attempt by Croydon council to improve the turnout at local elections. 16-Mar-1998
J Sainsbury is to trial interactive touch-screen kiosks from Inter-Act of the US in 13 stores, offering personalised discounts to loyalty card holders and possibly financial services at a later stage. 16-Mar-1998
Tesco has signed a partnership deal with the Usdaw shopworkers union that will result in forums being set up in all of its stores to get staff more involved in commercial decisions. 14-Mar-1998
John Lewis is planning to invest £103m in the expansion of its retailing business, including four new department stores. 13-Mar-1998
Kingfisher has opened its new Hong Kong regional office from where it plans to expand its Asian DIY and electrical retailing activities. 11-Mar-1998
Thorntons, the chocolate maker and retailer, is planning to open 100 new stores this year, and is considering new ideas such as a cafe format and mail order. 11-Mar-1998
Ottakar's, the specialist book retailer, is planning a £20m flotation next month in order to raise funds for expansion. 10-Mar-1998
Wyevale Garden Centres has bought Great Gardens, the owner of three garden centres, for £2.2m. 09-Mar-1998
Granada is introducing new working practices in its TV rental division in order to improve the efficiency of its repair work in customers' homes, by equipping employees with mobile phones and getting them to carry a stock of spare machines in their vans. 09-Mar-1998
Supermarket chains could become major new players in the travel agency business, using information from their databases and customer loyalty schemes, according to a report from Andersen Consulting. 09-Mar-1998
Liberty has decided not to go-ahead with plans for a £39m redevelopment of its Regent Street store in London, following the recent change in management. 07-Mar-1998
TJ Hughes, the department store company, is to raise £6m in a share placing in order to introduce electronic point of sale equipment, improve warehousing, and take over the House of Fraser store in Sheffield. 06-Mar-1998
Government plans to do away with price-fixing in over-the-counter medicines have been hit by a defeat in the House of Lords that could mean that the Office of Fair Trading will have to delay its legal challenge until 2004. 06-Mar-1998
WH Smith is in negotiations to acquire the John Menzies newsagents chain as a way to use up the proceeds from the sale of the Waterstone's book chain. 06-Mar-1998
Laura Ashley, the fashion retailer, has sold a 13% stake in Laura Ashley Japan to Jusco, its joint venture partner, for £8m, leaving it with a 26.7% stake. 06-Mar-1998
AAH of Germany is to invest £70m in the redevelopment of its 1,400 UK chemist shops, rebranding all outlets under the Lloyds Pharmacy name and allocating areas in the shops where pharmacists can give advice to customers. 05-Mar-1998
DFS, Carpetright and MFI have all reported a slowdown in sales so far this year, indicating that the recent revival in furniture and carpet retailing may be coming to an end. 05-Mar-1998
Amazon, the US-based internet bookseller, is considering plans to expand into Europe by setting up a UK distribution centre. 04-Mar-1998
Robert Dyas, the chain of hardware stores, is looking for a buyer following a strategic review of the business after its new warehouse was destroyed by fire in December. 04-Mar-1998
Tesco is forming a £460m joint venture with British Land to own and operate 12 shopping centres and Tesco superstores, a move seen as part of a trend for retailers to transfer properties from their balance sheets to partnerships with property companies. 03-Mar-1998
Booker has closed two cash-and-carry branches in Poole and Christchurch with the loss of 40 jobs. 03-Mar-1998
Coffee Republic is to open 185 new coffee bar outlets over the next five years, including 25 over the next 12 months, and is raising £8.5m in a share placing. 28-Feb-1998
Marks & Spencer is to expand its food retailing business by increasing its range of basic groceries and by offering home delivery at a large number of stores. 28-Feb-1998
Wickes is planning to refurbish all of its 122 DIY stores over the next three years by increasing the number of products by 500 to 4,500 and by improving customer service. 26-Feb-1998
Butchers shops will have to buy a £100 a year licence from mid-1999, and they will also be required to implement the "hazard analysis" system of food safety and undergo hygiene training. 25-Feb-1998
Safeway is to cut 100 jobs from its head office, and investors are becoming increasingly concerned that the company is falling behind the other leading food retailers. 19-Feb-1998
Alpha Airports is looking to sell its duty-free retail business for up to £70m in order to help finance acquisitions in its core business. 18-Feb-1998
Flying Flowers is to sell its Blooms of Bressingham wholesale division in order to focus on its more profitable mail order flower operations. 17-Feb-1998
Tesco is linking up with Norweb to offer extra points to members of its loyalty card scheme if they switch their gas supply to Norweb's Energi operation. 14-Feb-1998
Great Universal Stores is linking up with Bank of Scotland to create a new business called GUS Finance that will offer a range of loan products. 13-Feb-1998
Argos has stressed that it will continue with plans to open catalogue-based stores in the Netherlands, despite the takeover approach from Great Universal Stores. 13-Feb-1998
J Sainsbury has indicated an interest in spending up to £2bn on further supermarket acquisitions in the US, which would probably include buying all of Giant Food. 09-Feb-1998
Ikea, the home furnishings retailer, has awarded a £20m contract to Christian Salvesen to operate its first UK distribution centre. 09-Feb-1998
Hawkesbay Sportswear, the US clothing company, has acquired three factories in Ireland in preparation for the creation of 1,200 jobs and 100 retail outlets in the UK and Ireland. 07-Feb-1998
Duty Free International, now part of BAA, has won a five-year contract to provide in-flight duty free sales for British Midland. 05-Feb-1998
Essex Furniture has launched a mail order furniture business called The Sofa Club which will be run from a factory in west Midlands and a telephone call centre and showroom in Newbury. 05-Feb-1998
Tesco has appointed NatWest Securities as its stockbroker to replace Union Bank of Switzerland, as UBS's merger partner is a broker for the rival Sainsbury's chain. 04-Feb-1998
Great Universal Stores has launched a £1.6bn hostile takeover bid for Argos and says it can help Argos with its plans to move into home shopping. 04-Feb-1998
Barnes & Noble of the US is looking into the feasibility of opening a UK distribution centre for its online book retailing business. 03-Feb-1998
Whittard of Chelsea has put its expansion plans on hold due to the Asian economic crisis, and no new tea and coffee retail outlets will be opened until confidence returns. 03-Feb-1998
La Senza, the lingerie retailer, is in discussions with a number of companies, possibly including Ann Summers, that could lead to a takeover offer. 03-Feb-1998
The Co-operative Wholesale Society has announced the national roll out of a loyalty card scheme worth 5% off branded products. 02-Feb-1998
Next is to close the 13 in-store cafes at its fashion outlets following a review of profitability. 31-Jan-1998
Harry Ramsden's is planning to open a further six fish and chip restaurants this year, to add to the existing 33. 31-Jan-1998
Liberty, the London department store, is no longer seeking offers for the company following changes in the board. 30-Jan-1998
Tie Rack has issued a profits warning due to a fall in sales at its stores caused by the strong pound. 30-Jan-1998
WH Smith is to refocus its stores on books, stationery, and newspapers, in response to a period of falling sales. 30-Jan-1998
Marks & Spencer and Tesco are planning to open mini-supermarkets at train stations, with M&S; considering sites at Liverpool Street, Paddington and Victoria and Tesco looking at Paddington and Euston. 30-Jan-1998
Topps Tiles is planning to increase its chain of stores from 61 to over 100 by May 2000. 29-Jan-1998
Tesco and Safeway have announced revolutionary plans to share live sales data with their suppliers in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency of the supply chain. 28-Jan-1998
Allied Carpets is set to recruit a well-known designer to boost sales of its own-brand carpets and furnishings. 27-Jan-1998
Sketchley has restarted discussions about the possible sale of its retail business to NatWest Equity Partners for £10m in order to focus on business services. 26-Jan-1998
John Menzies is hoping to sell its chain of newsagents by April in order to focus on wholesaling and the Early Learning Centre chain of toy shops. 23-Jan-1998
Safeway is delaying the release of its Christmas trading figures, fuelling speculation that it wants to report the best figures possible in order to help its defence against any takeover bid. 22-Jan-1998
John David Sports is to slow down its expansion programme to about 20 new stores a year following a reduction in sales due to its merchandising department being too conservative in its choice of brands. 22-Jan-1998
Somerfield is said to have received a bid approach from a rival supermarket chain, possibly Safeway or Asda. 21-Jan-1998
Partners, the stationery retailer that opened 23 stores in 1997, is to scale back its expansion plans following disappointing sales over Christmas. 21-Jan-1998
SuperValu Supermarkets of Ireland has started selling what it claims to be the world's first beef tested for BSE, using a diagnostic technology developed by Proteus International. 20-Jan-1998
New Look, the womenswear retailer, is considering plans for a second attempt at flotation later this year, but this would depend on market conditions. 19-Jan-1998
Argos has issued a profits warning due to poor sales of toys, jewellery and electrical goods, while it has also announced plans to cut 100 head office jobs, close a warehouse in Welwyn Garden City, create a new distribution centre in Lancashire, and pilot a home shopping service. 17-Jan-1998
Sears is to bring forward the demerger of its Freemans home shopping business to later this year, and it is also said to be discussing the sale of its Cable & Co shoe business to Nine West of the US. 16-Jan-1998
Laura Ashley is to sell its four factories in Wales and one in the Netherlands in order to completely withdraw from manufacturing and focus on fashion retailing. 16-Jan-1998
Budgens is planning to rebrand its 55 7-Eleven convenience stores, using a new name, by April. 15-Jan-1998
The government is planning to require the food industry to pay part of the costs of the new Food Standards Agency, which could involve manufacturers, shops and restaurants being subject to a flat-rate licence fee. 15-Jan-1998
The Wolfson Foundation has reduced its stake in Great Universal Stores from 6.6% to under 3%, following advice from the Charity Commissioners that charity trustees should diversify their portfolios. 14-Jan-1998
Sketchley is said to be discussing the sale of its dry cleaning and photo processing retail businesses to the Birmingham office of NatWest Equity Partners. 14-Jan-1998
The chairman and three fellow directors have resigned from the board of Liberty following a dispute over plans to redevelop the Regent Street department store. 14-Jan-1998
Wm Morrison is launching a savings account for its supermarket customers with interest rates of up to 6%, as part of its alliance with Midland Bank. 13-Jan-1998
Marks & Spencer has opened a store in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, its first store in the Gulf Arab region, and now hopes to expand into other nearby countries. 12-Jan-1998
Sketchley, the high-street dry cleaners, is said to be facing a possible management buy-in from an unknown team of City venture capitalists. 10-Jan-1998
Monsoon, the womenswear retailer, is considering a move into mail order and is currently preparing for a flotation. 10-Jan-1998
WH Smith is said to have finalised a deal to sell the Waterstone's chain of bookshops to a joint venture between the chain's founder and EMI Group, and an announcement is expected soon. 09-Jan-1998
Johnson Group Cleaners is selling its US textile rental business to Cintas for £13m, but plans to expand its US chain of 44 Drive-thru dry-cleaning stores. 08-Jan-1998
Jacques Vert, the troubled clothing retailer, has seen its shares recommence trading following a two month suspension, having agreed new financing with its bankers. 08-Jan-1998
Borders of the US is to open a superstore in London's Oxford Street selling books, videos, music and computer games, and will follow this up with a chain of UK stores including an outlet in Leeds that is due to open in the autumn. 07-Jan-1998
CarLand is opening its first secondhand-car superstore at the Lakeside retail park in Essex, and plans to open 10 stores this year with the creation of 1,200 jobs. 05-Jan-1998
The government is looking to sell the New Covent Garden fruit and vegetable market in London, and the price could be well over £20m if advance planning consent is obtained for mixed-use development. 02-Jan-1998
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