Retail

  Bloomberg Marks & Spencer Group Plc will spend £15 million ($17 million) to support employees struggling with Britain’s spiraling cost of living. The retailer said that it plans to boost hourly wages to at least £10.20 from £10, its second pay rise this year, while providing one-time £250 M&S vouchers to 4,500 workers. Other measures include free meals every …

Bloomberg Home Depot Inc employees based in Philadelphia have filed a petition to unionise, according to a National Labor Relations Board filing, a rare move at the home-improvement retailer amid a growing nationwide labor movement. The 274 employees included in the petition work in merchandising, specialty and operations associates, according to the NLRB filing. The petition was originally filed earlier, …

Bloomberg Ralph Lauren Corp is targeting sales growth over the next three years that’s faster than Wall Street’s estimates, with the fashion brand aiming to pick up new customers and continuing to raise prices. The New York-based apparel company is targeting revenue growth in the mid-to-high single digits in each of the next three fiscal years, including the current one, …

  Bloomberg Mike Ashley is stepping down from the board of Frasers Group Plc four decades after he founded his retail business and just months after son-in-law Michael Murray became CEO of the Sports Direct-owner. The 58-year-old Ashley still holds an almost 70% stake in Frasers and said he remains “100% committed” to the business even though he won’t seek …

  Bloomberg With the pandemic waning, the US is gearing up for pre-pandemic levels of trick-or-treating, despite inflation levels not seen for 40 years. Undeterred by soaring prices, 69% of consumers are planning to celebrate Halloween this year compared with 68% in 2019, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said. A survey commissioned by the trade group found that consumers plan …

  Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc will let brands and merchants send marketing emails to shoppers, a risky bid to boost sales that could inundate inboxes with spam. The company announced the initiative at the Amazon Accelerate conference in Seattle, where it demonstrates new features to the independent businesses that sell more than half of the products on Amazon.com. Merchants will be …

Bloomberg UK retail sales fell at the sharpest pace in eight months in August as a worsening cost-of-living crisis and plunging confidence forced consumers to cut back on spending. The 1.6% drop was more than three times the decline predicted by economists and reflects the squeeze on households from soaring energy bills and inflation near a 40-year high. All retail …

Bloomberg California sued Amazon.com Inc, saying the company forces third-party merchants to agree to policies that lead to “artificially high prices” for consumers. State Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the antitrust suit challenging Amazon merchant agreements that bar sellers from offering lower prices on other sites and impose stiff penalties if they do. He said the agreements block competition from …

  Bloomberg Hennes & Mauritz AB sales declined more than expected over the summer as the Swedish retailer fell further behind rival Zara amid a growing cost-of-living crisis across Europe. Revenue dropped 4% excluding currency shifts in the three months through August, the Swedish retailer said. Analysts had expected a decline of 1.4%. That’s the first retreat in six quarters. …

Bloomberg Deloitte expects retailers will see slower volume gains this holiday season, from November through January, as a result of the US economic slowdown. “Retail sales are likely to be further affected by declining demand for durable consumer goods, which had been the centerpiece of pandemic spending,” Daniel Bachman, Deloitte’s US economic forecaster, said in a statement. “However, we anticipate …