Boux Avenue’s relationship with Liverpool One has been so positive, the lingerie brand is upgrading to a permanent new store at the major retail and leisure destination.

The new store is set to open on 17 April on the venue’s Lower South John Street.

Key ranges include signature lace and exclusively embroidered lingerie collections alongside style/comfort ranges for nightwear and swimwear.

With summer next on the agenda, Boux Avenue said it continues to also be the “one-stop destination for holiday essentials. And its bra-fitting service (spanning A-G cup sizes) advises on the best size and style for bust shape, can be either a walk-in or bookable service.

To celebrate the opening day afternoon, Boux Avenue will be offering a goody bag worth £24 for the first 50 shoppers who spend £40-plus, while the store will also be hiding Golden Tickets to win Boux Avenue gift cards worth up to £100. Early evening celebrations will include a live DJ set, drinks and free embroidery to personalise a purchase.

Further celebrations between 18-20 April will include the free embroidery service to personalise purchases.

The news comes after we heard that digital fashion brand Arne is moving into permanent physical retail territory for the first time and has chosen Liverpool One for its debut.

The mall has also enhanced its premium retail watch line-up with the arrival of Breitling making its city debut. 

But it’s not all about openings as Harvey Nichols is also closing its long-established three-storey Beauty Bazaar store there.

Britain’s Frasers Group announced on Wednesday that it had made another strategic investment in German high-end fashion giant Hugo Boss AG through the further sale of ‘put options’ over Hugo Boss’s shares.

A put option is a financial contract in which the holder has the right to sell an asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date (in this case June 2027). 

It means Frasers Group holds over 13.5 million shares of the German firm’s common stock, raising its stake to 19.2% of its total share capital. And the stake could be raised to up to 16.7 million shares of common stock through the sale of put options, or up to 23.7% of the total share capital of Hugo Boss.

The company said its “maximum aggregate exposure in connection with its net acquired interests” in Hugo Boss, at the closing share price on Wednesday is approximately €1.02 billion or around £850 million, covering over 30.2 million shares if the put options were exercised in full.

The company stressed — as it has said before — that it makes “strategic investments in the ordinary course of its business to develop relationships and partnerships with other retailers and to build relationships with key suppliers and brands”. In other words, this isn’t a general move towards a takeover attempt.

It added that it “remains a long-term investor in Hugo Boss and the board of directors of Frasers Group”believes that the HB Strategic Investment will create value for the company’s shareholders, as its strategic investments in Hugo Boss have done in the past”.  

Hugo Boss shares closed Wednesday at €35.43 each. That gave the company a value of €2.56 billion. But the share price — and market value — is down almost 33% in the past year, although it’s up 62% in five years.

Frasers CEO Michael Murray has been nominated for election to the Supervisory Board of Hugo Boss in May.

We know Mother’s Day was a big draw for physical retail with footfall and sales ahead of last year, but The Perfume Shop looks to have taken performance to a different level.

Claiming the top spot as the UK’s largest specialist perfume retailer, its sales in the lead up to Mother’s Day on 30 March “went above and beyond” with 280,916 bottles sold across the wider 9-30 March trading period.

What’s more, the week leading up to the day was up 56% on a year ago. That helped push overall sales up 14% on 2024.

Top 10 sellers were led by Lancôme La Vie Est Belle, followed by Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, Yves Saint Laurent Libre, Prada Paradoxe, Carolina Herrera Good Girl, Mugler Alien, Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium, Chanel No5, Dior Miss Dior and Mugler Angel.

Digging deeper, The Perfume Shop said sales were driven by a 30% increase in sales of classic perfumes, 3% in new and trending perfumes and a 2% increase in gift sets compared to 2024. 

Promotional deals also proved popular with the website’s busiest day on Tuesday (25 March) seeing a 69% increase in perfume purchases compared to last year. Some 35% of all orders last week were customers making the most of the next-day delivery service.

Also, the retailer’s personalisation services were in demand, delivering over 43,688 ribbons (21,500 of these being sold last week) and 1,091 engraved bottles in the three weeks running up to Mother’s Day.

Karen Harris, Customer director from The Perfume Shop said: “Perfume is such a personal and lasting gift, and this year’s sales have truly reflected that, with a remarkable uplift in both classic and trending scents. Our personalisation services have also been more popular than ever, showing just how much thought goes into selecting the perfect perfume.”