News English — Financial Performance

Since JAB went public with their intention to sell off Jimmy Choo there has been continued speculation on who might acquire the company. JAB, an investment/holding company, grew out of the Reckitt Benckiser FMCG empire and have assembled a division of fashion brands including Jimmy Choo, Belstaff, and Bally. The company also hold a significant stake in Coty, the beauty company, and a number of coffee related businesses. In 2016 JAB attempted to list Belstaff, but ultimately had to terminate the process due to lack of demand. Its April 2017 announcmenent that it is seeking to offload Jimmy Choo fits...

In 2007, at the height of its popularity, Inflexion Capital invested in a 27% stake in the company. In 2012 the company closed down its sister brand - Aubin & Wills and hired Wendy Becker as COO. In 2013 Wendy Becker was promoted to CEO of the company by its owner, Peter Williams.  In Aug 2015, the founder, Peter Williams came back to head up the company and in 2016 the company filed reports showing that its holding company made a loss of £14m Jack Wills is a premium fashion retailer of ‘Fabulously British’ casual wear, homeware and accessories for...

In 2014 Nordstrom paid $350million for Trunk Club, a fashion styling subscription box service targeting men. This has been the only exit in an industry plagued by high levels of returns and controversy (JustFab Inc subscription methods). Business Insider today reported that 61% of US customers taking out a subscription has canceled it. An industry expert told Styleintelligence that "Subscription box services have huge returns, much higher than normal ecommerce retailers. Perhaps even higher than 80%." The question is if the lack of exits in the niche has been due to a lack of consumer transparency and more importantly, revenues...

On a recent visit to the Brent Cross shopping centre in North London we counted no less than nine empty prime shop locations.  The centre's official store count is 120 and we estimate that the total number of prime locations are about half of this. This would mean that the vacancy rate for the shopping centre is 15%. According to LDC the average retail vacancy rate for the whole of the UK was 12.4% in April 2016. The shopping centre vacancy rate was 13.2% in April 2016, down from 14.6% in April 2015. However, compared to the London average of just below 8%, Brent Cross stand...

(Image source: Burberry Plc) The British luxury brand has seen its fortunes reverse since Angela Ahrendts left the company to join Apple. Burberry plans to cut costs by £100m (approx $150m) by 2019. However, since the appointment of Christopher Bailey to the dual role of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer the company has not only dropped revenues but has also seen significant cost control measures introduced. Mr Bailey is rapidly losing faith among investors, but has backing from the board, and an additional leader is being sought to work in tandem with Christopher as his duties are thought...