French Connection Share Discussion Threads

[she-ra] 06/11/2013 17:01

Hopefully Geoff Foster will regurgitate his takeover rumour in tomorrows Mail.

I think city scribblers have suddenly got a hard on for French Connection.

[bamboo2] 06/11/2013 15:39

Er, isn't that the old write up in the header?

I think you'll find cr's stance has changed a little.

[safman] 06/11/2013 15:14

Dir buys a few and given 600k worth of options..

A good incentive even @ the lower price to get FCCN back on track..

saffy..

[dewtrader] 06/11/2013 13:46

Good bowl towards 90p

[dewtrader] 06/11/2013 12:52

but so good i felt it ought tobe read by anyone who missed it as it is very comprehensive

[alewis2005] 06/11/2013 12:43

dewtrader - 17 days old and 7 days old respectively... Not exactly news now unfortunately.

[duncan doughnut] 06/11/2013 11:12

Seems the FD has been buying shares. F.C. have a trading update due in a few weeks too

[tiswas] 06/11/2013 10:03

Yesterday I used the contact investor relations email address on their website as I was after some info.

The reply was an "out of office" from Roy Naismith saying he had left the company on 26th April!

Jeez, is there any hope!!!!!!!!!!

[bamboo2] 06/11/2013 07:59

Thought this interesting.


Online retailers move into bricks and mortar stores By Lindsay Baker

BBC Business reporter

With the inexorable rise of online shopping, there have been gloomy predictions about the future of the bricks and mortar, High Street store.

Yet it seems that reports of its imminent demise may have been exaggerated.

In a new twist, established e-commerce businesses are increasingly opening physical stores.

This emerging trend, labelled "clicks to bricks" or "e-tail to retail", looks set to inject some much-needed vigour back into local High Streets.

A recent survey in the United States of the shopping habits of 18- to 25-year-olds suggests that just over two thirds of them - some 68% - prefer to shop in stores for clothing and shoes.

"Retail observers have been significantly overestimating our use of online and digital technology for shopping - we like shopping in stores," says Nicole Flasch-Mihalko of LIM College, which carried out the survey with the National Retail Federation in the US.

Online brands are now acting on this.

In the UK, menswear brand Orlebar Brown, whose swimming shorts Daniel Craig famously sported in the James Bond movie Skyfall, has recently opened three London stores.

A physical store offers shoppers the chance to touch, feel and try on merchandise, and for luxury brands in particular, this is important.

Engineering connections

For instance, Rapha, which started as an online business in 2004 selling high-performance cyclewear, opened its first store or Cycle Club in San Francisco in 2011.

Now it also has branches in London, Osaka, New York and Sydney.

Rapha says its stores have been a big hit with customers, offering a showcase for its clothing but also acting as a place to absorb cycle culture - to drink coffee, join in organised cycle rides and watch major races on big screens.

"The Cycle Clubs are conceived as meeting places for road racing fans and great places for like-minded people to hang out," says Rapha's chief executive Simon Mottram.

"Rapha is the host of these places and it's great for us to engineer connections between customers, not just between the customer and brand."

And he says its stores are also helping Rapha to better understand its customers.

"It's hard for brands to engage with their customers in a purely digital way.

"That may be fine if your business is only about conducting simple transactions, but if you want to truly connect with a customer and create a deep, ongoing relationship with them, then a physical experience is invaluable.

"Many people like to shop in bricks and mortar locations. There is the possibility of theatre and human interaction there - these things shouldn't be underestimated."

There is a new model of retailing emerging, "with brands having a core website that covers the majority of purchases", he says.

"With a number of high-touch, physical 'brand experiences' on top of that platform - allowing the customer to really engage with the brand."

'It's a whole journey'

For Bec Clarke, founder and chief executive of jewellers Astley Clarke, it is all about "allowing customers to shop how they want".

Her firm has seen rapid online growth, and has now opened a showroom and store at its London headquarters - as well as supplying a number of UK department stores.

Within the next few months it also plans to supply several major stores in the United States.

"There's a long consideration process to buying jewellery," Clarke explains, as we sit on plush sofas in her firm's showroom, the decor complete with mirrored furniture and luxuriant cream padded walls.

"It's a whole journey of trying on and thinking about it and trying on again, and we have to allow the customer to go on that journey," she says.

"It's also important for our bespoke service - clients like to see and touch the gemstones.

"The heart of our business is online, but we have a 'channel agnostic' approach, which is where the world is moving to."

'Create a storm'

For High Street landlords with vacant space to rent as well as online start-ups this trend is good news, says Ross Bailey, founder and chief executive of Appear Here.

His firm brings together shop landlords and mainly e-commerce entrepreneurs, with the aim of making renting a pop-up or permanent physical shop easier and more flexible.

"Pop-ups helps fill in any awkward pauses that a landlord may have, and it's good for brand building, too," he says.

"It can be hard and expensive to get noticed online now.

"But if you spring up offline - even for a short time - shoppers will love the interaction and share their experience of going there by tweeting or sharing an image online.

"You can create a storm."

Blurring boundaries

Some e-commerce brands are moving into so-called guide shops - allowing shoppers to try on items, and then order in-store for home delivery.

Bonobos menswear is at the forefront of this phenomenon, and has opened guide shops across the United States. Increasingly it seems, the channels are blurring.

Bonobos founder and chief executive Andy Dunn argues that this is the future of retailing, but that "it is also the past".

"When you look at retailers who are thriving in this environment, it's the brands focused on delivering a strong service experience.

"It is one of the ironies of our time that a digital medium, the internet, is making the in-person shopping experience a more humane one," he says.

[57andrewjh] 06/11/2013 02:31

I essentially look at my stake here as 'punt money'. I'm not going to chase a 20% rise. Either it takes off or it crashes and burns. I suspect there was a general sense of frustration yesterday at the remarks on Europe - 'hope but not growth' - and although Britain seems to be accelerating I made a rare trip home recently and I had no sense of a feel good factor. I think any bidder will want a better level of confidence before putting a firm bid on the table. The best scenario would be competing bidders but that may never materialise. Marks may be stubborn and miserable - I don't know him personally - but I would imagine he would like to walk away with a decent sum and either he genuinely feels the turnaround is there if he sits out the leases or he wants a better base on which to sell. I've got a couple of these that I just buy and forget. If it happens, it happens, if it doesn't, the world will not end.

[bamboo2] 05/11/2013 17:07

Poor non-food figures from M&S weighing on sector?

[she-ra] 05/11/2013 15:14

Well Falklands if Chrisoil says it then it must be true.

Like he knows everything.Are you Chrisoil by any chance?

[falklands] 05/11/2013 14:36

Marks not selling as posted on Chrisoil twitter

[stewjames] 05/11/2013 13:56

Maybe someone taking profits having started the buyout rumours!

[alewis2005] 05/11/2013 13:42

Big lot of sells just went through - about 1/3 of todays volume. Someone taking profits or the buyout rumours coming unstuck?

[lomcovaks] 05/11/2013 12:42

Interesting link and information bamboo. I posted a few weeks ago regarding the excellent online advertising campaign to launch FCCN's autumn collection. Looks like it could be doing the business.

[bamboo2] 05/11/2013 12:20

Traffic up 36% since summer

[whatgoesupcomesdown] 01/11/2013 13:14

The million sell at .34 has been on the books for weeks and capped the share price the share price just stretched his legs once that's gone through. Frothed up by some gossip.

[amorruso] 01/11/2013 12:35

I bought in the 20's but am holding for much higher as it is indeed consolidating.

[bamboo2] 31/10/2013 10:15

SP consolidating? Looking at the chart it's possible we could see sells as low as 38 before we see more buying. Good for those who bought in the 20's.

[falklands] 31/10/2013 08:18

Be careful out there ! city folk have spoken to marks post daily rumour said false imo and with 41% I think it is traders playing about again.

You can catch thoughts at Chrisoil twitter

All good to get the word out about fccn though.....