Tag: Retailing

Guernsey post-rate hike ‘could drive businesses away’

Posted by | May 22, 2006 | |

Bulk Mailers’ Association chairman Rodney Brouard said that new Guernsey Post charges, sanctioned by the Office of Utility Regulation last week, could see island-based mail-order companies relocate to other more-affordable locations.
‘It is a very competitive market. The 17.5% VAT ‘loophole’ does not just apply to the Channel Islands, it applies anywhere outside Europe.’ The USA, China and Hong Kong are among the competitors. Brouard said that if bulk mailers pulled out of Guernsey, it would have a negative impact on the island economy. Guernsey Post, reacting to increased Royal Mail costs, is set to increase its bulk-mail tariff by up to 70% from August.

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HMV fights sales dip with home delivery service

Posted by | May 19, 2006 | |

HMV is planning to roll out a store-to-door home delivery service to give shoppers in smaller stores access to its full range. The entertainment retailer has piloted the service in 20 outlets, but will expand the operation across its estate from August. The news is part of HMV’s fight-back strategy as it attempts to become a major multi-channel retailer and reverse its sales decline.

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UK village post offices: what next?

Posted by | Mar 8, 2006 | |

Innovative alternatives to the traditional post office could provide postal products to rural communities more cost-effectively, a report revealed today.
In a series of trials, more than 50 villages were provided with the products normally available in their local post office a range of different ways. A “virtual service”, in which customers could order products such as stamps over the phone or internet for home delivery, and a mobile service which tours villages in a van, were among the methods piloted by the Post Office study.
The Rural Pilot Activity also tested services where the post office was provided in a local shop or church hall or a post office employee travelled to the village to provide the service in a host premises. There are currently 8,000 rural Post Office branches, most of which make a loss. The Government pays a £150 million social network payment each year to maintain rural post offices, which it is committed to paying up until 2008.

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US investor ups stake in new German parcel shop chain

Posted by | Mar 1, 2006 | |

New German parcel shop chain Paketeria said its planned expansion throughout Germany has been boosted with a further financial investment by a US investment group. Paketeria, which cooperates with GLS and TNT, currently has several branches in the Berlin area but aims to expand to 1,000 franchise outlets across Germany by end-2007.

The US investment group Wilmington Scientific, funded by investor John Moore, has raised its financing of the company, Paketeria said in a statement. The size of the investment and of the US company’s stake in Paketeria was not disclosed. “We see a promising market for the future in the Paketeria franchise concept,” Moore was quoted as saying.

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UPS Store dispute escalating

Posted by | Feb 24, 2006 | |

Three hundred of The UPS Store owners plan to sue United Parcel Service Inc. and its subsidiary, Mail Boxes Etc, for undercutting their profits. Hundreds of other UPS Store owners could follow suit, the culmination of a long-festering feud between many store owners and their franchiser. Store owners’ chief complaint is that Atlanta-based UPS which sets the rates that more than 4,100 UPS Stores in the United States can charge customers for shipping, offers cheaper rates to its direct-pickup customers and imposes requirements burdensome on the store owners. UPS acquired San Diego-based Mail Boxes Etc Inc in 2001, and in 2003, the vast majority of Mail Boxes stores changed their names to The UPS Store, while the UPS subsidiary that oversees the stores retains the Mail Boxes Etc name. All new US franchisees after 2003 were branded The UPS Store.

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