The Myer family has announced that it will enter the baby goods market.

The family will invest up to £3 million with the Headline Group ahead of the latter’s move to roll out the leading British maternity brand, Mothercare, in Australia.

The announcement of the substantial investment coincides with the news that Headline has moved to acquire Babies Galore, the struggling baby retailer, in a move that will see 13 new stores added to the group’s operation, with forecasted revenues set to reach as much as £65 million.

Managing director of Headline Group, Brent Dennison, said that negotiations with the Myer family had been going on for some time. These discussions revolved around what would be considered the most ideal time to invest in the group, and how the cash injection would be best utilised. The Headline board of directors will now feature an appointment from the Myer family.

Famous for its in-store trained midwives in the UK, the Mothercare chain opened its first Australian store in March in Melbourne, with a further 10 stores launched since then. With the addition of the Babies Galore outlets, which will be converted to Mothercare over the next 18 months, the group will total 31 dedicated Mothercare stores, while also operating the 29 Early Learning Centre stores around the country. Mothercare Plc has been so impressed with the roll-out of the new stores this year  that they invested around £8 million in July with the Headline Group, obtaining a 25 per cent stake in the process.

Leading UK supermarket chain has launched a multi-million pound overhaul of its in-house range.

The mid-market own-label selection will be rebranded to become Chosen by You, as Asda splashes out around £100 million in the new facelift which is aimed at addressing the ongoing slide in the group’s market share.

Over 3,500 items from food to drink were overhauled in the nine month process, which saw customers involved in more than 200,000 taste test according to Andy Clarke, Asda CEO, speaking at a London conference yesterday. The new range, which previously has recorded annual sales of around£8 billion, will be available in all of the group’s outlets as from today.

According to figures from Kantar Worldwide data, the share of the UK grocery market held by Asda has fallen steadily for the past nine months, while the group’s market share price has slid to just 17.2 per cent over the past three months, significantly trailing its major competitor Tesco, who leads the pack with a 30.8 per cent market share. The own brand range, which includes the Extra Special premium range and the Smart Price value range, makes up around half of Asda’s total sales.

Asda said the rebranding marked a real change for the group, which will now focus on the mid-tier Asda brand Chosen by You. This will see the group highlight what they call their ‘value hat-trick’ of service, quality and price. Careful consultation has been made with the UK public, with some 40,000 customers participating in blind taste tests across the country in recent months, leading to the addition of 500 new products and the modification of 1,000 more that reported room for improvement.

Retail fashion group French Connection is in a more cautious mode in the second half of the year.

After the first six months of 2010 resulted in a profit for the British outfitter, slow sales in recent weeks at retail outlets have kept celebrations muted.

The impending VAT rises and winter budget constraints have hampered spending by consumers, many of whom are returning from summer holidays and tightening their purse strings. Despite this, French Connection said last week that year-on-year comparisons with wholesale orders were still ahead, with the group forecasting slow by steady progress for the full financial year.

Like many in the fashion industry, French Connection has been streamlining its services to achieve greater profitability, with the latest round of restructuring seeing the sell-off of the loss making Nicole Farhi brand. In addition, partnerships in Europe and Japan have been scaled back in favour of the US, with the group claiming it has signed a new North American licensing partner. The deal will see LF USA, owned by the Hong Kong consumer goods exporter Li & Fung Ltd earn up to $10 million in net royalties over the next five years.

The latest direction for French Connection follows recent years of struggle following the decline of the popular FCUK brand. In stark contrast to last year’s £5.4 million pound loss, the group has finally been able to report a profit, though tough times are still ahead.

Britain’s second largest retailer remains bullish as profit forecasts exceed expectations.

Debenhams announced yesterday that its yearly pre-tax profit would likely rise by 20m per cent. The increase comes on the back of designer range performance and online sales.

The company predicted that it would hit the £150 million profit mark, with the recent trends of store expansion and discounting helping to fuel coffers by £3 million over what analysts had previously forecast. However, at stores that had been open to the public for at least one year, overall sales were flat compared with the previous 12 months.

Despite the unsteady consumer environment, which has seen the public sector suffer widespread job cuts, material costs rise and austerity measures hinder spending, Debenhams has been able to produce the upbeat estimate which covers the year until 28 August. Deputy chief executive for Debenhams, Michael Sharp, said the store was well placed to cope with what has been a challenging storm. Mr Sharp said the impending VAT rise was an obvious concern for all retailers, but that his company’s commitment to offering the right products at right prices had served them well in times of financial hardship. Mr Sharp also acknowledged that online sales had seen a significant rise, with many customers trending towards the time and money saving alternative.

With 160 stores across Britain and Ireland, Debenhams is the UK’s second largest sales retailer behind John Lewis, and also features stores in Denmark and over 60 franchised outlets overseas.

Britain’s second largest retailer remains bullish as profit forecasts exceed expectations.

Debenhams announced yesterday that its yearly pre-tax profit would likely rise by 20m per cent. The increase comes on the back of designer range performance and online sales.

The company predicted that it would hit the £150 million profit mark, with the recent trends of store expansion and discounting helping to fuel coffers by £3 million over what analysts had previously forecast. However, at stores that had been open to the public for at least one year, overall sales were flat compared with the previous 12 months.

Despite the unsteady consumer environment, which has seen the public sector suffer widespread job cuts, material costs rise and austerity measures hinder spending, Debenhams has been able to produce the upbeat estimate which covers the year until 28 August. Deputy chief executive for Debenhams, Michael Sharp, said the store was well placed to cope with what has been a challenging storm. Mr Sharp said the impending VAT rise was an obvious concern for all retailers, but that his company’s commitment to offering the right products at right prices had served them well in times of financial hardship. Mr Sharp also acknowledged that online sales had seen a significant rise, with many customers trending towards the time and money saving alternative.

With 160 stores across Britain and Ireland, Debenhams is the UK’s second largest sales retailer behind John Lewis, and also features stores in Denmark and over 60 franchised outlets overseas.