MONTH IN REVIEW
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RETAIL
Strong retail
sales growth in
August helps
strengthen
British pound
A 0.3% growth in retail sales across
all sectors in August, excluding food,
clothing and petrol, saw the value of
the British pound increase 0.7% against
the dollar at $1.32.
According to figures from the Office
of National Statistics (ONS), the lower
month-on-month growth rate in the
quantity bought in food and clothing
stores was offset by strong growth
in other non-food stores at 2.8% and
household goods stores at 4.5%.
The three months to August 2018
saw an overall increase in quantity
bought at 3.4%, with food and
household goods stores performing
well in the warm weather when
compared with the previous summer,
while non-store retailing continued to
show strong growth.
Spending online continued to
increase and reached a new record
proportion of all retailing at 18.2%, with
strong growth in department stores also
reaching a record proportion at 18.4%.
Rhian Murphy, senior statistician for
the ONS, said: “Retail sales remained
strong in the three months to August,
with continued growth across all
sectors. Food and household goods
stores particularly benefited from the
warm weather when compared with
last summer.
“The figures for the month of August
were a little more mixed, with food sales
falling after strong sales earlier in the
summer and clothing sales declining
following a strong July, as suggested by
clothing retailers. On the other hand,
household goods grew strongly.”
Despite the positive growth seen in
August, Richard Lim, CEO of analytics
firm Retail Economics, has told Retail
Sector that a lot of the “supportive
factors” around retail sales over the
previous two to three months have
been down to “one-off events”.
16 JEWELLERY FOCUS
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JEWELLERY BRANDS
Olivia Burton
launches first
store with dream
garden pop-up
British accessories brand Olivia Burton
has launched its very first bricks and
mortar store in London’s Covent Garden.
Following a soft launch of the first
floor, the brand unveiled the second
floor to customers with an official grand
opening 28 September.
Situated in the historic market
building, the 1200 sq. ft store is arranged
over two floors and features Olivia
Burton’s brand new ‘feminine and
iconic’ store concept. The store design
has a boutique feel and “reflects the
brands love of nature” with references to
flowers, bees and birds throughout.
The store will provide customers
with the opportunity to shop the entire
Olivia Burton collection in one place for
the very first time. The space will also
introduce customers to new in-store
experiences for the first time, including
a personalisation station where
customers can create bespoke pieces.
Olivia Burton, head of creative, Jane
Hebden said: “We are so delighted to
be able to meet our dedicated and loyal
customers in person.
“At Olivia Burton, our customers
are at the heart of everything we do,
and we are constantly creating new
collections based on their feedback and
suggestions. Meeting our customers
daily allows us the opportunity to create
pieces we know they’ll truly love.”
In celebration of the opening, Olivia
Burton is showcasing the ‘Dream
Garden’ over the launch weekend
from Friday 28 September to Monday
1 October. The pop-up is designed to
be a place where “customers can go
to feel inspired to go after their own
dreams and aspirations, whatever they
may be”.
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RETAIL
60% of British
people believe
the high street
will ‘eventually
disappear’
New research has found that 60% of
British people believe that the high
street will “eventually disappear”.
The research by Close Brothers
Asset Finance also found that 85%
of people feel the high street is in
decline, with 70% adding that councils
and the government are not giving
“enough support”.
Workers at over 900 British
businesses were surveyed as part of
the research, of which 35% agreed
that business rates were most to
blame for high street struggles.
Charging for car parks was most
to blame for struggles according to
25% of those surveyed while others
blamed online shopping, changing
shopping habits and out of town
shopping centres.
Over a quarter of business owners
surveyed admitted to selling more
online while a further 25% said
they were seeking alternative sales
methods. Businesses employing
between one and 10 employees and
those in the south east and Wales
felt the most strongly about poor
levels of support for councils and the
government.
Neil Davies, CEO of Close Brothers
Asset Finance, told Retail Sector:
“We’ve rarely seen this level of
consensus in our research and it
reflects the respondents’ personal
experiences of the high street, whether
as a consumer or a retailer.
“The issues facing the high street are
many and multiple, with unreasonable
business rates seen as the single
biggest cause of the problems,
followed by parking charges and
rather surprisingly in third and fourth
place, online shopping and changing
shopping habits.”
END: THAT’S ALL. YOU ARE NOW UP TO DATE
October 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk