Hong Kong's retail sales rose in December as economic sentiment improved alongside further relaxation of social distancing measures, the government said on Friday.

​Freemans said on Friday that it had “a cracker of a Christmas” with sales in the eight weeks to the end of the year up as much as 23%. Its customer numbers also topped a million, which was up 65% from two years ago.

​Footfall to UK retail destinations was up 12.5% in January, according to the latest BRC-Sensormatic IQ data. But while it rose, it was 2.6 percentage points down on December.

​There are big changes happening in John Lewis Partnership’s customer service capability, with the UK retail giant announcing new investment in its brands, data and technology “to give even more value to customers”.

Global fashion giant H&M is planning to shutter four of its regional UK stores, citing a “rapid change” in customer behaviour. Stores in Hartlepool, Maidenhead, Newport on the Isle of Wight and Burton are set to close.

How successful has The Very Group’s Everyday range been? Enough to expand the collection with more than 900 new fashion and home products “following strong customer demand since it launched in summer 2022”.

The Kering-owned brand has tapped actor Jake Gyllenhaal to front its 2023/2024 global advertising campaign, shot by Gray Sorrenti and set to be released in May. 

A new broom is expected to sweep in at Matalan following the acquisition of the fashion and lifestyle retailer last month, with interim chairman Tim Isaacs the first casualty.

Central London commercial property landlord Shaftesbury is to partner with Good On You, fashion’s source for brand sustainability ratings.

Some fashion collaborations aren’t that immediately obvious. Take premium British brand Mallet London which has partnered with Transport for London (TfL), to produce a limited edition capsule footwear collection.

​THG Ingenuity has inked a strategic alliance with And Digital, the software engineering firm, “to accelerate digital transformation, help brands bridge the digital skills gap and unlock the potential of commerce tech”.

​Shop price inflation continues to rise, despite hopes that it would begin to ease soon. The latest BRC-NielsenIQ Shop price Index for January showed it acerbating to 8% from 7.3% in December.

Frasers Group is understood to be rolling out its own buy-now/pay-later (BNPL) offer as part of an own-brand, standalone financial package scheme. 

​Supermarkets giant Tesco said on Tuesday it had purchased the Paperchase brand and its intellectual property following the gifts and stationery retailer going into administration.

Farfetch said this week that it — along with partner Outlier Ventures (a global Web3 accelerator and investor) — has opened applications for Dream Assembly Base Camp Cohort Two taking place from April

​The festive shopping season in the UK saw a noticeable revival of consumers visiting physical stores as they discovered the joys of shopping face-to-face. And that seems to have benefited London's Oxford Street.