After more than a decade of historically low-interest rates, cheap money became the ‘new normal’. But with rising inflation – and interest rates – venture funding is very difficult to get right now. Funding in Q3 2022 was down 34% from the previous quarter. Deals fell 10% from Q2..
FINANCE
Frasers Group (UK) has reduced its stake in Hugo Boss just two months after announcing it had upped its position in the brand to over a third. It now directly owns a 3.9% share in Hugo Boss, down from 4.3%.
Bed Bath & Beyond (USA) has warned there is substantial doubt about its ability to continue operating. Sales for the quarter ended Nov 26, 2022 are expected to be down 26% year-on-year. The company’s market capitalisation, which stood at $17bn a decade ago, has fallen below $200mn.
Next (UK), regarded as a bellwether of the high street, said that full-price sales had increased by 4.8% in the nine weeks to December 20, compared with the same period last year. The company has raised full-year profit forecasts thanks to a better-than-expected Christmas trading period.
Everlane (USA) is laying off 17% of its corporate staff and less than 3% of its retail staff as the company aims to head to profitability.
PODCAST
Creating Retail Resilience in a Challenging Market
Retail is facing a complex market environment right now with costs rising, more channels to manage and consumers who are struggling with inflation.
What can retailers do to get ahead of market conditions – and position themselves to triumph?
In this podcast Carl Boutet, Founder, Chief Strategist & Executive Advisor at Studio Rx talks about retail strategies that leverage technology, analytics and design.
His master recipe for success = Measure > Analyze > Predict > Prescribe
What You’ll Learn:
- Why retailers need to shift their focus from managing cash flows to now putting more emphasis on resource allocation.
- How to leverage the power of physical stores in everything from customer acquisition to community building.
- The value of integrating upstream and downstream data to have better clarity on inventories and better product information to provide to customers.
RETAIL
Five Below (USA) is setting its sights on tripling its footprint by 2030. The company has set an ambitious target of opening another 1,000 stores by 2025. In 2022 foot traffic saw double-digits gains over 2021.
MARKETS
Eurozone inflation fell more than expected in December, ending a two-month period when the rate was in double digits.
- The flash index of consumer prices among the 20 European member countries rose at an annual rate of 9.2 per cent in December, down from the 10.1 per cent rate the previous month and a record annual rate of 10.6 per cent in October.
The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, the lowest it’s been in 50 years.
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