Chris Edwards, the founder of Poundworld, has criticised how the retailer was run before it collapsed, saying its private equity owner TPG Capital “badly managed” the company. The retailer was sold to TPG for £150 million three years ago. Rather than Brexit or a devaluating sterling, Edwards claimed that the new owners “made expensive decisions that the business couldn’t take”.
Tesco Mobile Ireland has announced its latest Back to School offer for pay as you go customers with deals available on mobile brands including Alcatel and Samsung. The sale will last from Thursday, August 9th to Wednesday, September 5th, and will see three core bargains for customers. The Samsung Galaxy J3 is now €149.99, saving €50, the Alcatel 1x is now €79.99, saving €20 and the Alcatel U3 is now €39.99, saving €10.
V360°, in conjunction with ECR, is holding the final event in their Shopper Symposium Series. The breakfast sessions, under the overarching theme of ‘Preparing for the Future, While Thriving in the Now’, was designed to focus on an area of paramount importance for brands, retailers and service providers seeking to navigate the increasingly complex and fragmented shopper landscape.
A.G Barr, the maker of Irn Bru, has issued a trading update in which it said that it expects half-year revenues to be up by 5% compared to the previous year, taking in £136 million. This is on the top of the 8.8% growth the company reported last year and is “especially positive” considering the current market conditions and adverse rather effects earlier in the year.
Lidl UK will sell five-kilogramme boxes of ‘imperfect’ fruit and vegetable products for £1.50 as part of its “Too Good To Waste’ trial. The retailer aims to cut food waste per store by 25% by 2020. The measure could save up to 10,000 tonnes of waste per year.
A Guinness Brewery has debuted in Maryland in the US as the doors of the Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House opened as the new home of Guinness in America. The move is part of a growing brewing scene in Maryland, and the facility will be the home of Guinness Blonde, along with new Guinness beers created for the U.S. market.
Londis featured its pop-up shop at Ireland’s latest music event, the first-ever “All Together Now” festival, which took place over the August Bank Holiday weekend in Co. Waterford. Londis provided festival-goers with the necessary goods and services to keep their tents stocked, offering coffee, snacks, cashback, lotto and all the festival essentials - from wellies to sun cream. It also set up the Londis Garden, giving campers a place to relax adjacent to the shop.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
