Americans are warming to the all natural products from UK baker Mrs Crimbles.

The Hampshire-based Stiletto Foods has announced it has entered the US market, signing a new deal with Whole Foods Market which will see the delicious Mrs Crimble’s ‘free-from’ products appear at five of the US giant’s 11 regions.

The firm has also negotiated a new listing arrangement for 16 products that will hit the shelves at leading UK retailer Morrisons later this month, while further deals have been agreed upon with Holland & Barrat and Tesco, who will showcase gluten-free chocolate macaroons and gluten free sage & onion stuffing mix respectively. The Morrisons range will include Bakewell slices, double chocolate brownies, apple and ginger cakes, crackers, macaroons, a dumpling mix and cheese bites.

A spokesperson for the Mrs Crimble’s range said the raft of new deals highlighted the popularity of gluten-free products as an alternative to the mainstream fare, with Portugal, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Dubai also enjoying the tasty, healthy treats. With nearly 20 per cent of consumers now buying gluten-free products, Mrs Crimble’s range is seen as not just a dietary option, but a lifestyle choice.

The Mrs Crimble’s brand has seen unprecedented growth in recent times, with shoppers flocking to ‘free-from’ products as a broader range is introduced as an alternative to the standard sugar and fat-laden mainstream offerings. With recent deals also signed with Asda and Sainsbury’s, the group hopes to make advances into the restaurant and cafe industry in addition to leading convenience stores and supermarkets.

Leading music and enytertainment group HMV has announced the launch of a new fashion arm.

HMV will partner with Boxfresh and Lee as it enters the world of fashion retail, the latest phase of the group’s evolution into what calls a ‘broad based entertainment brand’.

The move will see HMV stores add a dedicated fashion section in their stores, to be called ‘The Studio’. These will feature predominantly menswear and accessories from well known brands including FLY53, Lee Jeans, Boxfresh and Eastpak, and are set to debut on September 1.HMV’s Oxford Street London flagship store will also feature items from Rocawear, the designer label from hip-hop star Jay-Z. UK rapper Kano will also be involved in the new initiative, along with the indie band Everything Everything, who are brand ambassadors for Boxfresh and Lee respectively. It is understood that both artists will make live, in-store appearances to celebrate the launch of the new fashion direction.
 
The entertainment group said that it sees itself as the perfect outlet for which to capitalise on the crossover between the music and fashion industries, claiming that the fashion foray was a natural progression.

The new clothing range will also feature online at the e-commerce site run by HMV, with the possibility of making an appearance at stalls run by the group at music and festival sites. Richard Stockwell, the HMV fashion manager, said that the two genres over-lapped each other strongly, making HMV the perfect fit to showcase both.

In a bid to make the most of the free hand luggage allowance on airlines, travellers have taken cunning steps.

A new study by Debenhams has found that rather than pay excess baggage charges when travelling by plane, savvy passengers have developed a habit of ‘wearing’ large amounts of their belongings.

The move has become popular since airlines have introduced cheaper ticket prices for those travelling with only hand luggage, with the leading fashion retailer reports that sales in the summer period of oversize coats with multiple pockets have skyrocketed by as much as 350 per cent. The five-pocket Mantaray jacket, with a hidden compartment in the sleeve, has risen by 200 per cent, while the John Rocha six-pocket parka has gone up by over 300 per cent.

Debenhams attributes to sales growth on the shop floor to travellers choosing to pack heavy items such as laptops, books, cameras and towels onto their person rather than pay for bags to be stowed in the airplane hold. This can save an individual up to £40 in some situations with budget carriers. Debenhams sales staff have even witnessed customers bring their travel items into the store to test the fit of jacket pockets, with the latest novel, netbook and even pants, socks and sarongs all stuffed inside parkas in the quest for travelling light. Though the trend may seem a smart way around charges, increased testing is likely before boarding, and excess baggage usually attracts a hefty surcharge, in some cases up to £20 per kilo.

UK shoppers are beginning to show signs of feeling the economic pinch.

Leading supermarket chain Asda, returned a second successive quarter of declining profits on underlying sales, prompting fears that this could be the start of a wider trend, as taxes and fuel costs rise. This comes on the back of the emergency budget, and ahead of the VAT increase at the end of the year.

The Walmart-owned UK supermarket said that sales fell by 0.4 per cent in the quarter ending July 31. This followed a previous quarter drop of 0.3 per cent in the first quarter, the first time Asda fell in underlying sales in the past five years.

Chief executive Andy Clarke took some of the responsibility for the returns, saying the group was not fully focused on their customers, which would hopefully change. The lack of attention to the consumer resulted from Asda dealing with its own budgetary constraints according to Clarke, who added that the supermarket was sticking to its everyday low price philosophy that emphasises fewer promotions and better quality products.

Asda removed one third of its multi-buy offers in the past three months, with staple groceries such as milk, eggs, sugar and bananas all returning lower prices in the past few weeks. Asda trailed its supermarket rivals when it came to sales growth, reporting a 2.9 per cent increase in the three months ending August 12. Morrisons was at 6.9 per cent, with Sainsbury’s improving by 5.9 per cent and Tesco 3.9 per cent.

Leading fashion retailers H&M and Zara will both go live online in September.

From next month, shoppers who are based outside of the London store range will be able to buy their favourite outfits via the internet as the clothing providers attempt to buck the increasingly dour trends hitting the high street.

Zara, which is owned by the Spanish company Inditex, will launch its new website simultaneously across the UK, Spain, France, Portugal and Italy on September 2, and while they have previously offered a range of homewares online, the revamped website will mark the debut of fashion lines that have in the past been only available in-store. H&M will launch its new online venture a fortnight later, offering men’s, women’s and children’s clothing in addition to their own range of homeware.

The current gloom facing that has beset consumer confidence in the UK and across Europe has led several major retailers to warn that widespread cuts in public sector spending will have a knock-on effect for individual customers. The recent austerity budget from Chancellor George Osborne had created increased worry across the UK over employment and wage prospects, leading to a tightening of the purse strings.

Both Marks & Spencer and Next have warned that consumer spending is likely to be constrained in the coming months as the new coalition government’s emergency budget combines with the rise of VAT at the end of the year to keep customers out of high street shops.