Newspaper retail round-up

Supermarkets start the Christmas battle

The Christmas battle is starting early for the supermarkets as they try to outdoor rivals with price promotions and loyalty schemes. Festive products are on special offer earlier than in previous years.

Hells Angels sue Alexander McQueen brand

Fashion label Alexander McQueen is being sued by the Hells Angels motorcycle group. The bikers have brought a lawsuit against the design house for misusing the Angels’ trademarked winged death’s head symbol.

M&S chairman confident of growth

Marks & Spencer chairman Sir Stuart Rose says a double-dip recession in the UK is unlikely and predicts that sales will rise despite the pressure from spending cuts.

Retail sales fall again

Retail sales in Britain fell unexpectedly for a second month in September, suggesting that consumers reigned in their shopping ahead of the government’s spending review.

Carpetright reports drop in sales

Carpetright boss warns of tough times ahead as the chain reports a 7.3% drop in like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland for the 12 weeks to October 23. The retailer closed four stores during the period.

From The Financial Times

Morrisons invests in farming

Morrisons is to invest £2m in Dumfries House farm in Scotland over five years as part of its commitment to British farming. Dalton Phillips, Morrisons chief executive says he want the farm to be profitable by 2014.

Sainsbury’s boosts farm supply chain

Sainsbury’s is stepping up investment in its rural supply chain by investing £40m over the next three years in its farming “development groups” to improve relations with farmers covering different product areas such as beef, lamb, milk and grain.

Everything Everywhere bows out of Phones4U deal

Everything Everywhere, the parent company that owns T-Mobile and Orange, has decided not to bid for mobile phone retail chain Phones4U. A shortlist of offers for the group will be revealed by the end of this week.

Tesco cuts Hovis from shelves

Tesco has stopped selling Premier Foods’ Hovis branded bread following a pricing disagreement. Premier Foods has increased prices of the loaves to keep up with the rising price of commodities.

From The Telegraph

Primark is biggest clothing retailer in UK

Primark has overtaken Asda as the biggest clothing retailer in the UK. The value retailer increased its market share to 10.9%. Asda holds 10.8% and M&S has 10.2% of the clothing market, according to Kantar Worldpanel.

From The Independent/ i

Toy Story 3 will boost HMV sales

HMV says DVD releases of the films biggest films such as Sex and the City and Toy Story 3 will boost its Christmas trading period.

From The Times