Harrods is considered a great trophy amongst the mega-millionaires in the Middle East and it is thought that it has been sold to another wealthy family.

The Harrods store is on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London. It is the UK’s second largest store with more than 330 departments. It covers a staggering 4.5 acres (18000 square metres).

However, Harrods is more than just a big department store. The Harrods group is also involved in banking, property and aviation. This makes it an extremely attractive asset to the mega wealthy international businessman.

The Harrods motto is Omnia Omnibus Ubique, which  means “All Things for All People, Everywhere”.

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Post tags: Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed

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Post tags: Miss Selfridge, sale

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High Street sales have been down for over a year now, with only a small growth seen since November 2008. After October’s unexpected growth retailers became more optimistic for the end of the year. Now the whole trading year rests on the Christmas shopping period.

Food inflation has been blamed for poor high street sales. People just cannot afford any extras now.

Many people are still hopeful that Internet sales as we approach Christmas will help many small businesses out of the doldrums. Many online shops are offering attractive discounts to entice buyers.

We will share whatever we can find here.

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Post tags: christmas, high street, November, retain, shopping

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“All stores currently remain open for business as normal whilst the administrators undertake a review of the company’s affairs and seek a purchaser for all or some of the company’s stores in which there has already been interest.”

Borders was in talks with WH Smiths, discussing various merger options, however talks broke down last week. Borders were also talking to Waterstone’s owners HMV about a partnership.

On Monday this week Borders stopped all new orders on its website.

This is good news for Waterstones and WH Smith, as both are likely to see increase in sales running up to Christmas, plus Amazon will win some of Borders’ online sales.

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Post tags: Amazon, books, borders, waterstones

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This is not good news in the run up to Christmas. The retail industry makes most of its profit during the pre-Christmas shopping period. Today is known in many markets as “Black Friday”, which although sounds like a bad day, it represents the day of the year that a majority of retailers pay off their debts for the year and finally start making a profit.

“New data has shown that most economies, ours included, suffered a severe shock in the first quarter of this year.” Alistair Darling

Bad news on Black Friday could lead to more people tightening their belts and opting for fewer, cheaper Christmas presents.

Retail sales are certainly on the increase again now, with a 4% rise being seen from September to October, but this is currently not enough to save many businesses.

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Post tags: Alistair Darling, Black Friday, recession

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Over the last month there have been some exciting changes at GBP Shop. We are pleased to announce that we have spun off our Garden and DIY Tools section into a new website called YourToolShop.co.uk.

YourToolShop.co.uk makes it easier to find and compare garden tools. Whether you need a powerful petrol hedge trimmer or just a new pair of shears, YourToolShop.co.uk will provide. The store is still being developed with new products become available each week, to be sure to check back.

YourToolShop.co.uk plans to sell more DIY tools such as power drills and work benches in addition to building on its garden too department. Currently the shop specialises in the following products:

• Axes & Mauls
• Leaf Blowers and Garden Vacuums
• Chain Saws
• Spades and Forks
• Grass and Hedge Trimmers
• Hoes and Rakes
• Hoses & Reels
• Lawn Mowers
• Loppers, Pruners, Secateurs and Shears

Jon Wade, Internet sales manager says:

“These are truly exciting times for GBP Shop and its new brand YourToolShop.co.uk. The garden and DIY market is one of the few growing markets at the moment. With more people having to reduce household costs the lure of DIY is on the rise once again. Plus many people are now trying their hand at gardening as a profession rather than just a hobby. We have clients who have quit the banking sector to set up their own gardening companies and are providing clients with a professional and personal service. YourToolShop.co.uk allows customers of view and compare garden tools online and then have them delivered to their door. This service is important for busy gardeners who cannot get to a garden centre during the day.”

GBP Shop will continue to run its other departments, namely the fashion, clothing and shoes. As the UK market continues to struggle, online demand for goods remains steady as people continue to search the Internet for bargains and discounts. GBP Shop is confident that it will have a stronger 2010 and wishes YourToolShop.co.uk the best of luck for its first full year trading.

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Post tags: DIY tools, garden tools, spades, tools, your tool shop

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“With a postal strike going on across the country we’d like to reassure you all by mentioning that La Senza deliveries will remain unaffected. All parcels will go out as normal and the free delivery on all purchase over £35 is still valid!”

La Senza have also reminded us that there are many special offers on their website (www.LaSenza.co.uk) in the run up to Christmas.

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Post tags: free delivery, La Senze, lingerie, mail strike, postal strike

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The John Lewis home stores will focus on the electrical and home goods, and will most likely all be located in retail parks. The store will enable people to furnish every room in their house, with bedroom furniture, bathroom accessories, kitchen appliances and soft furnishings.

Like Tesco Home they will also have cafes, customer collection points and gift list services.

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Post tags: John Lewis, John Lewis at Home

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Currently Debenhams has about 1000 products on Amazon and just 100 on eBay. If these operating models prove to be a success we can expect to see more of Debenhams products moving to eBay and Amazon, and more High Street stores joining them.

This will likely prove to be bad news for many independent traders and SMEs on eBay who make a living importing and selling clothes online. No doubt we will hear the good news that Debenhams is performing well, but not the news than many more small businesses will start to struggle.

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Post tags: Amazon, Debenhams, ebay, online sales, SME, sole traders

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Arcadia controls several High Street clothes shops, including Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Wallis, Evans, Burton and Dorothy Perkins. Its pre-tax profits for the year to 29 August rose by 13% to £213.6m.

Debenhams also has a healthy balance sheet with pre-tax profits up by 13.7 per cent to £125.2m over the same period.

Both companies more hopeful now about a stronger Christmas trading period.

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Post tags: Arcadia, Burton, christmas, Debenhams, Evans, Miss Selfridge, retail market, Topman, Topshop, Wallis

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