On most comp shops, these three businesses are increasingly the stand out retailers. They are made even more conspicuous by the progressive blandness of most of the rest. In this toughest-ever market, the natural instinct is to tighten belts. Cost pressures are increasing. With demand so soft, lowering costs becomes increasingly seductive and the result

With demand across virtually every non-food market soft at best, persuading consumers to engage with products is becoming increasingly challenging. Pressure on margins is forcing cost cutting and this is increasingly hitting shop floor staff, which in turn further hits sales. Across all of this, the beauty market stands apart as an oasis of customer

Next’s trading statement manages to tell us lots and not much simultaneously. The reaction of the Stock Market is rather extreme, but that is generally the way it works. Today’s results were greeted with a 10% hike in the share price. This tells you that Next was undervalued before and the correction makes it look