SHOPPING

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Dixons is to rebrand all 190 electrical products stores as Currys.digital and use the Dixons brand for its internet retailing operations. Making the change will cost Dixons about £7m, but it is expected to save the firm close to £3m annually. Owner DSG International's chief executive John Clare said, "With these changes we now intend to become the most successful electrical retailer on the web, alongside our leadership position in bricks and mortar electrical retailing." (Source: BBC News, Apr/06)

Two months after it closed, the Grangecraft Garden Centre, in Hospital Lane, Mickleover, has re-opened under new management. Robert and Graeme Osborne and their father Barrie, have taken on a five-year lease and re-employed seven former staff and more will be employed as the business grows. The new name is Mickleover Garden Centre. The Osbornes are leasing the site from Simon Brook, director of Pendleton Investments, which owns the site. Mr Brook blamed two difficult trading years for the closure, which led to the loss of 41 jobs. In addition, three firms renting premises have continued trading from the site. They are Tropicana Pet and Aquatics, Midland Pre-Cast Garages and Della Porcelain.

Marks & Spencer cut prices on its cheapest women's clothing range by up to 25%, in a move designed to put pressure on rivals such as Next. An M&S spokeswoman said other summer price reductions include a £9 cotton t-shirt down to £6 and a pack of men's socks down from £10 to £7.

Analyst at Brokers Seymour Pierce, Rhys Williams, said the new prices were designed to help M&S "compete better with Next, which has lowered its 'entry' prices several times over the past 18 months". He said M&S would be hoping customers lured by lower prices would be attracted by more expensive merchandise when they got into the stores. "It's all about increasing footfall in the stores with a view to raising the average transaction value," he added.

Marks & Spencer was fined £750 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs after being found guilty under the Consumer Protection Act of using misleading price information. A confusing price tag led customers to believe they were getting nearly 50% rather than 25%. A shopper complained about the pricing on women's pyjamas at the McArthur Glen discount outlet in York. The ticket showed a price of £19 reduced to £10 with another sticker showing £13 underneath. M&S said, "There was no intention to mislead."

Marks and Spencer was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £6,390 costs after admitting that clothes from its designer Italian range were actually made in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East. A customer took the retailer to court after spotting that although the clothes purported to be made in Italy they were in fact manufactured in places such as Lithuania. Birmingham magistrates' court heard that clothes beneath the "I Italian" signs were three descriptions, all in smaller writing, which read either "Made in Italy", "Italian Fabric" and "Italian Inspired". A spokesman for Marks and Spencer said the 'I Italian' range had been rebranded as "Collezione". (Source: Daily Telegraph)

Marks & Spencer has employed Mary Gober, a leading American motivational speaker, to address a series of mass meetings aimed at getting the most out of the M&S workforce. A three-day team building exercise, involving 5,000 staff at a time, has workers asking questions of themselves and their colleagues. They are given "goodie bags" containing nine envelopes to be opened on Miss Gober's instructions. Every 40 minutes staff began dancing in their rows to 1970s disco hits such as the Bee Gees' song You Should Be Dancing and the Jackson Five's ABC. The company said the meetings would help staff provide "a better service for our customers". Usdaw, the shopworkers' union which is trying to recruit M&S workers, claims the whole exercise will cost the company £10 million. (Source: The Telegraph)

Sports shop Allsports has gone into administration and more than 1,000 jobs have been axed. Administrator BDO Stoy Hayward said the chain had been hurt by a "significant" decline in sales. BDO Stoy Hayward said 92 stores have been closed and 1,173 staff made redundant. A further 147 staff were made redundant at the head office and central warehouses in Bredbury, near Stockport, Greater Manchester. The closed shops were "deemed uneconomic" by the administrators. The John David Group, has bought Allsports out of administration. The parent company of rival JD Sports paid £18m and promised to take on Allsports' debt.

DIY company Focus was reported to the Office of Fair Trading and the Department of Trade and Industry, after it scrapped contracts with its suppliers and forced tougher payment terms on them. Focus wrote to hundreds of suppliers ordering them to pay more towards distribution costs and demanding an increase in the cash discount it receives for monthly settlement invoices. At least a third of suppliers have been dropped by Focus after rejecting the new terms. Focus said it was motivated by 'considerable cost increases'. These included 'the minimum wage rule, maintenance cost of premises with rising increases in utility bills, insurance premiums, rates etc; and distribution costs affected by rising fuel prices and the working time directive'.

MFI was blasted for duping customers into believing they had scooped sales bargains. Consumer watchdog Which? found kitchens were NEVER sold at full price at one major store. Undercover researchers spent six months checking “sales” offers, advertised as from 38 to 70% off the “original” price. Four of the five kitchens monitored were on sale throughout the entire period at the store in Wembley, North London. Even the supposed full price varied. Which? said, “MFI should change its promotional slogan from ‘Our biggest ever sale’ to ‘Our longest ever sale’. Their pricing policy deceives its customers into thinking they’re getting a better deal than they are. If you are considering buying a kitchen from MFI, don’t be fooled by the glitzy brochures promising offers that are just ‘too good to last’. They do last, for quite some time.” MFI said, “We comply with all current advertising and sales promotion legislation.”