Debenhams has pushed back its summer sale by a fortnight as part of a drive to reduce its reliance on discounts and promotions.
The seasonal sale will kick off on 26 June, a few weeks later than last year's 12 June start date, as the department store chain tries to ring up more full price sales and improve profit margins.
Debenhams also plans to house Sports Direct and Costa Coffee in some of its stores as part of a trial that could lead to the arrival of a number of other leading brands. The tie-up with Sports Direct comes after its boss, Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, snapped up a stake in the 158-store chain last January.
Trading drive: Debenhams is keen to drive better returns from its shops after admitting recently that 10 per cent of its UK space was under-performing
The 200-year-old Debenhams, which trails rival John Lewis in annual sales, wants to squeeze better returns from its shops after admitting recently that 10 per cent of its UK space was under-
performing.
It has endured a tough 12 months, issuing its second profit warning in less than a year in December and losing its finance chief after a long-held strategy of pushing promotions failed to boost its crucial Christmas sales.
In April, Debenhams reported first half-profit was down by a quarter and chief executive Michael Sharp pledged to reduce promotions, make its online business more competitive with more delivery options, redeploy excess store space and speed up international growth.
Debenhams said today that business at stores open over a year rose 0.7 per cent in the 14 weeks to June 7. The news reassured the City enough to push its shares up 0.5p to 72.6p in early trading
The company added: 'Since the end of the January sale we have removed a number of events from the promotional calendar and reduced both the level of discount offered and stock participation in some other events.'
It went on: 'This process will evolve over time and we will trial different approaches to ensure we achieve the right balance between improving our profitability and delivering great value for customers.'
Debenhams is also working to improve its delivery options in time for Christmas, with next-day click and collect and a 10pm cut-off for next-day delivery.
The new store pipeline stands at 12, including two outlets in the next financial year. The average size of these new stores is smaller than the current estate and the average lease length is shorter, with more than half at a lease length of 15 years or shorter.
Sharp commented on shopper sentiment, saying: 'Whilst it is clear that consumers are aware of improvements in economic indicators, they are not yet seeing a significant improvement in their disposable income.'
As part of new concession trials, Sports Direct will get space in Debenhams stores in Harrow and Southsea during August and potentially more stores before the end of the calendar year.
Coffee brand Costa will launch concessions in six stores - Guildford and Slough during this month and Derby, Exeter, Haverfordwest and Woking in July. Debenhams said it was in discussions with a number of other brand.
Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley initially bought a 4.6 per cent stake in Debenhams in January, then swapped it for an option to buy a 6.6 per cent slice of the business.
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