In a press release dated January 15, French group Rocher announced its intention to initiate a process of divestiture for its children’s fashion and home care business units, featuring the Petit Bateau and Stanhome brands. The group’s goal is to refocus on its core expertise and its cosmetics brands Yves Rocher, Arbonne, Sabon and Dr. Pierre Ricaud, for which the group indicated it will increase investment by 50%.
The Petit Bateau factory in Troyes, France – DR
“Over the past 18 months, we have successfully taken a first decisive step in our financial turnaround, as we transform our business models to improve performance. Now, we have the financial means to inject new impetus, concentrating our investments in developing the potential of our skincare, beauty and wellness brands,” said Jean-David Schwartz, managing director of the Rocher group.
Petit Bateau was founded in Troyes in 1893 and is one of the leading players in French children’s fashion, certified as a ‘living heritage company’. It operates a factory and a logistics hub in Troyes, and a factory in Morocco. It sells its products in 55 countries, through various specialist e-tailers, 370 monobrand stores, and 750 multibrand retailers.
Petit Bateau employs 2,300 people, and in 2024 it recorded revenue of €250 million, posting 7% growth in France and 3% internationally, as Bris Rocher, the Rocher group’s CEO, told the Ouest-France newspaper. He underlined that it is not a question of selling off unprofitable brands, but of focusing on the cosmetics business.
“As of now, we have zero buyers. We are just kicking off the process, and it will take some time. In the meantime, Petit Bateau and Stanhome remain part of the Rocher group. And we will treat them as we have treated them until now. I don’t have a timeline. The whole thing could happen quickly, or it might take a long time,” Bris Rocher told Ouest-France.
In recent years, Petit Bateau has boosted its resale business and entered the family cosmetics segment. On September 1 2023, Alexandre Rubin took charge of the brand.
Home care specialist Stanhome, originally founded in the USA, was acquired by the Rocher group in 1997. It has 580 employees, and sells its products via a network of direct sales consultants.
In the last 18 months, the Rocher group has deployed a transformation plan aimed at improving its profitability, while also splitting up the president and managing director functions. The group said its performance has improved. “In financial terms, our roadmap’s second phase will enable the group to pursue its value-creation path, with the objective of doubling EBITDA in five years, having increased it by 25% over the last eighteen months,” the group stated in the press release.
Rocher has recently sold its fragrance factory in Ploërmel, France, and make-up brand Flormar. In 2024, the group generated a revenue of €2.2 billion, up 2.4%, and will continue to tap its beauty market expertise, concentrating on the Yves Rocher brand, which accounts for 53% of its revenue. Arbonne, Sabon and Dr Pierre Ricaud respectively account for 13%, 6% and 2.5% of the group’s revenue.
With cost remaining a decisive factor for consumers, M&S said Friday (January 31) it’s continuing to cut prices of over 300 “family favourite” products with kidswear the latest target.
M&S
The high street retailer said it “re-affirms its commitment to delivering trusted value and everyday low prices on the products that matter most to its 32 million customers”.
The latest cuts include an up to 20% price reduction on over 100 products from its ‘everyday essentials’ Kidswear range.
Key pieces include its Cotton Rich Hoodie and Joggers as well as range of Sweatshirts, Leggings and T-Shirts which now start from £5.50, with the retailer saying the reduction in price will not compromise on the “quality or high sourcing standards it is known for”.
Alexandra Dimitriu, Kidswear director, Clothing & Home, said: “Now more than ever, customers are looking for trusted value. When it comes to clothing, we know value is more than just the product’s price – they also want confidence that it is made well and made to last and offers versatility.”
M&S reported positive figures for its festive trading period with total group sales increasing 5.6% to £4.064 billion, but much of the strength was concentrated in the Food area with Clothing, Home & Beauty, rising just 1% to £1.305 billion, with like-for-like sales rising ahead of the market at 1.9% as underlying sales grew 2.6%.
Burberry announced a key appointment on Friday with the luxury business saying it will soon have a new chief information officer.
Charlotte Baldwin
It has appointed Charlotte Baldwin to the role and she’ll join the business at the end of March. Baldwin will be responsible for leading Burberry’s global technology team and will join the executive committee. She’ll report directly to Burberry CEO Joshua Schulman.
He described her as “a highly experienced technology and digital leader with a track record of leading large-scale digital transformation”.
She hasn’t previously worked in the luxury fashion sector but has wide-ranging experience across some major-name businesses in Britain.
She’s currently the global chief digital and information officer at coffee chain Costa Coffee where she oversees the company’s technology, digital and data organisation.
Prior to joining that firm, she was the chief information, digital and transformation officer at private healthcare giant Bupa’s Bupa Insurance unit. She’s also held senior roles at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Pearson and Thomson Reuters.
Burberry has been navigating a tough period of late and Schulman joined in the top job last year, tweaking the firm’s strategy. His approach seems to be paying off with the company last week porting improved results, although the turnaround is still undeniable a work in progress.
Another day, another shopping centre delivering a “record-breaking” performance in 2024. This time it’s Gloucester Quays “capping off another year of considerable growth”, for the owner/operator Peel Retail & Leisure.
That included record Christmas trading at the key Gloucester mall, which helped overall sales for the year finish 6.7% ahead of the national average. Across November and December, retail sales grew 3.6% compared with 2023.
Looking at 2024 in total, an overall 7.4% year-on-year sales increase across its tenants was split between 6.1% for retail, and 8.5% for F&B.
But there was also double-digit growth from leading fashion, homewares, and outerwear brands including Next, Skechers, All Saints, Mountain Warehouse, Puma, Crew Clothing and Suit Direct.
It said sustained growth was seen across all categories “points to the increasing relevance of the Gloucester Quays experience”.
Paul Carter, asset director at Peel Retail & Leisure, added: “There have been various headlines this month about how challenged retail was around Christmas, so to have Gloucester Quays performing so well is a real credit to our team and our brands.
“These results also serve as a reminder of how relevant and in demand this outlet is. We have experienced consistent growth for several years, and that success can be put down to the quality of our offer and waterside environment. There is no doubt our catchment is responding to how we have evolved Gloucester Quays, as an urban outlet that combines a compelling shopping environment with dining and leisure to fit all tastes and needs, benefitting from a heritage waterside setting that few regionally can match.”
Entertainment8 years ago