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Fortnum & Mason is planning to enter a fast-growing market for fast food and growing online and global outbreaks of the epidemic with a severe impact on sales at its London supermarket.
“The starting point [this year] has become one of the fastest growing brands on the internet. We thought this would gradually end when the shops reopened but did not, “CEO Tom Atron told the Financial Times.
The ecommerce costs for the 315-year-old group were more than half full for the whole year until July 11, compared to one-fifth of the pre-epidemic outbreak.
“Sales to UK customers have doubled. We are just appearing in people’s lives and not just giving gifts,” Athron said.
Former superintendent John Lewis, who took over from Ewan Venters in December 2020, is looking at opportunities for immediate delivery, as he thinks customer expectations are “being redefined”.
“Obviously the emergency demand for the Florentines will be minimal,” he admitted, adding that the company’s request for well-known picnics was obvious.
“Maybe we can do this together, but I don’t want to just post things on Amazon or Gorilla, that’s the wrong way to do it.”
However, there are no recent plans to open more UK stores beyond the West End flag and satellites in the City and tourist destinations.
“In a global economy I would like to invest online. I understand why Selfridges and Harvey Nichols grew up outside of London, but they made decisions many years ago,” Athron said.
The 181 Piccadilly, a shopping mall for the Queen, will remain a storefront even after purchase. hit guest numbers resulting in a loss of $ 2.7m for the year up to July 2021, against the $ 600,000 gain last year.
Athron expects that visitor numbers may take longer to return than expected and working from home could also reduce the decline.
“But if there is anything, it means we have to invest a lot of money in Piccadilly to make it a better place,” he said, citing plans for a theater kitchen that could advertise.
Most overseas stores are possible. Fortnum & Mason works one store in Hong Kong directly and has partnerships with retail stores in Japan, Korea and Australia.
“We had a store in Dubai that didn’t work but I want to look at the area again,” Athron said. Some areas such as the US can be posted online.
He wants to resume consumer shipping to Europe, which Fortnum & Mason has abandoned due to the difficulty of exporting food outside Brexit.
“A reform that would require stronger and more future relations with the rest of Europe than we do now.”
The three most popular shops in London are foreign as well Selfridges was recently sold by the Canadian Weston family to Central Group of Thailand.
But Athron does not see any change in Fortnum & Mason, which has been an Anglo-Irish branch of the Weston family since the 1950s. “I hope we stay in our hands.
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