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The ‘future’ – a word that perhaps doesn’t sit too comfortably in retail at the moment.

For so many retail brands, the future looks extremely uncertain, and for many others, any future is likely to take a drastically different form to the past, bringing with it the need for radical overhauls in business models.

But perhaps the raft of challenges affecting the sector recently also present an opportunity to take stock in terms of re-thinking the fundamentals of the classic retail business model, and challenging what have become ‘accepted norms’, to explore new channels and new approaches.

Of course, at the heart of everything must be the consumer.

Credit Essential Retail.com

Equating to a quarter of Subway’s store portfolio, the shops will offer a takeaway service as well as free delivery on orders over £10 through Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo. The company has implemented a range of new health and safety measures to protect customers and staff throughout the coronavirus outbreak. Measures include new fixtures, directional signage, enhanced hygiene procedures and PPE. Colin Hughes, country director for Subway UK and Ireland, said: “Everybody in the Subway family and the wider communities they serve has shown great resilience in adapting to these challenging times that we currently find ourselves in.

Credit TRB The Retail Bulletin

Greg Palfrey and Steve Adshead, from the South Coast office of Smith & Williamson, have been appointed joint administrators. Palfrey said: “This is a sad day not only for Southampton, of which NST has been a venerable part of the city’s cultural fabric for more than half a century, but for the country’s theatreland in general. “Our thoughts are with NST’s 80 staff, the vast majority of whom are furloughed and are understandably anxious about their jobs and NST’s future. “We will do our best to sell the business and its assets, albeit in testing commercial conditions which have no parallel in modern British history.” NST operates at NST City, at Above Bar Street in Southampton city centre, and until recently, NST Campus at the University of Southampton’s Highfield Campus. NST City, in the city’s Cultural Quarter, opened in February 2018 and includes a flexible 450-seat main house theatre, a 133-seat studio, screening facilities, rehearsal and workshop spaces and a bar and restaurant.

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The research by Mintel has also led the company to forecast that the market is set to be worth £17.9 billion by 2024 following growth of 41% over a five-year period.

The poll of UK shoppers found that in the early days of coronavirus crisis pre-social distancing, just 7% of UK shoppers increased the amount of online shopping they did for both food and non-food. However, this has now grown to an uplift of 36% over a two-month period.

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JD E-Space is a 50,000 square-meter mega experience store in Southwest China’s Chongqing city. E-Space’s claim to fame is that it offers consumers the chance to try virtually everything in the store – from go-karts, to washing machines and more.

JD E-Space adopts an omnichannel model, where customers can order online for delivery to their homes or buy online for pick up in store, enabling consumers beyond the Chongqing area to “visit” the store virtually. As all of the products are sold through JD’s retail model, consumers still experience same- and next-day delivery, even if they don’t live near the store.

Fashion brand Lacoste has announced that it has reached the milestone of producing 100,000 masks in the last few weeks as it looks to help healthcare organisations combat the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, the company said: “We want to thank all our volunteers who work every day to protect lives. As the fight is not over, the discreet heroes in France will intensify the production to reach 200,000 masks. We would also like to celebrate the great Lacoste family that continues to mobilise around the world.”

Lacoste will be continuing to manufacture masks for as long as necessary beyond April at two production lines at its French factory in Troyes. The company’s factory in Argentina and its Turkish partner EREN Holding are also continuing to produce medical masks and gowns.

Greggs the bakers see a total sales increase of 14.1% this year

The January launch of it’s vegan sausage roll has been credited with the 9.6% like-for-like sales increase for their company managed stores.

This follows a general trend in the F&B and within the wider population where a move to alternative and healthier lifestyles is gaining popularity

credit TRB – The Retail Bulletin

Results in from the ONS to report that retail sales rose 1% in January.

The high street has had it tough for the past few years and we may not be out of the woods yet but it’s as positive result.

Contrasting a 0.7 fall in December 2018 but showing a 4.2% rise against January 2018 it surpassed the economists expectations and is one of the largest annual rises in sales for more that two years.

Whilst Brexit dominates the headlines and the countries focus perhaps consumers feel they have been keeping too long a tight hold ?. (credit Mylo Portas, Peak & The Retail Bulletin)