This week’s top retail stories - 16th July 2010

Retail Week

Convert empty shops into schools

Building consultancy EC Harris has suggested that converting empty shop space into schools could cut the cost of building a new school by 36%. The need to do more with less, remodelling and refurbishing what we already have, needs to be the focus. Catherine Tobiasinsky, EC Harris Head of Retail, said that making use of vacant shop space is a great way of helping retailers caught in leases for spaces that they no longer use.

Mothercare sales fall but rival brand is bought

Mothercare domestic sales have declined 2.6% while international retail sales have climbed 20.3%. The brand’s international expansion and UK property restructuring plans are on schedule and investment in Mothercare’s customer offer for the remainder of the year will be offset by cost savings elsewhere. Mothercare has also bought the privately owned brand Blooming Marvellous.

Pressure mounts on Ocado to lower its price

As Ocado’s announcement of its final share price draws ever closer, investors and analysts continue to criticise the ambitious price tag of between 200p and 275p placed on the online grocer. If this price is realised the business would be valued at £800m to £1.2bn which the investment community has told Ocado is just too high. Analysts Arden Partners and Shore Capital have respectively put a price tag of 180p and 128p on the shares, while other City sources have suggested that the price should drop even further to £1. It’s clear that City and Ocado management expectations are somewhat different.

The Grocer

Weetabix creates ‘holy grail’ of breakfast cereal

Weetabix claims to have created a chocolate cereal healthy enough to be advertised to children – a ‘holy grail’ within the breakfast industry. It is reported that Chocolate Weetabix has half the sugar of the average chocolate flavour breakfast cereal, but with the same wholegrain content as normal Weetabix, meaning that the product can be legally advertised to children. The new Weetabix biscuits will be available in stores from this week.

Walkers is real World Cup winner

Walkers crisps have enjoyed a real world cup victory, with great sales of products themed around the tournament. The snack brand owned by Pepsico repeated its new flavour competition with huge success – outselling last year’s campaign by nearly 50%. English Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding won the World Cup-themed promotion with 20% of all votes cast.

Waitrose and Sainsbury’s awarded for animal rights

Compassion in World Farming has announced Waitrose and Sainsbury’s as winners of their most compassionate supermarket and best volume supermarket respectively. Both ‘Good Chicken’ awards were handed out at a ceremony held last night in London’s St Paul’s cathedral. “Waitrose is the supermarket with the highest overall score on farm animal welfare and the best performer in nearly every species category,” a spokesperson for CIWF said.

Marketing Week

P&G launches parenting website

Proctor & Gamble’s Pampers brand is to launch a series of online videos called ‘Welcome to Parenthood’ to increase the brand’s digital engagement with consumers. The new website will track three sets of parents and their infants, and will show real-life experiences and emotions that come with parenting for the first time. P&G’s online budget is due to climb into double figures by the end of next year.

Waitrose expands Duchy Originals range

Waitrose is to increase its portfolio of Duchy Originals products to include more everyday products like eggs, scones, muffins, fresh meat, cereals and frozen food. These new products will be in addition to the existing special occasion and gift items already stocked in Waitrose stores. While sales of organic products have declined overall during the recession, Waitrose has maintained steady sales in this area over the past year. The supermarket last year signed an exclusive deal to manufacture, distribute and sell Duchy products, and plans to launch 149 new products under the Duchy brand.

BP timing bad for Nectar

In an effort to restore its public reputation, BP is offering double Nectar points on fuel. BP is promoting the offer under the tagline ‘fuel you can trust’ and makes the pledge that ‘our quality control means you can get consistently great fuel…reward yourself with quality fuel’. The campaign has been slammed as ‘derisory’ and a ‘PR gaffe’ by brand consultants and industry experts who feel that the actions are irresponsible in light of what is going on in the US. A BP spokesperson said that the offer is simply part of ‘an ongoing programme’ and is an extension to a previous service called BP Ultimate Club.