January Furniture Show
19-22 January 2025
From e-commerce and high street brands to inspirational and trending topics, our weekly series will bring you up to speed on the latest hot topics from across retail, lifestyle and design; covering everything from retailer updates, changes in purchasing behaviour, inspirational case studies, and the latest trends.
Ingka Investments to acquire former Topshop site at London’s Oxford Circus
Ingka Investments is to acquire the former Topshop store at London’s Oxford Circus for a purchase price of £378 million.
The investment arm of the company behind IKEA has signed a conditional purchase agreement for the site at 214 Oxford Street, which will partly be used by IKEA UK & Ireland.
Therme Art's Basel talk examines architecture's potential to improve mental health
Dezeen promotion: curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and other industry experts came together to discuss the ways in which architecture and design can be utilised to create restorative spaces that improve mental wellbeing.
The talk, hosted by Therme Art, was titled Art and Architecture as Healing: Shaping a Mental Health Economy and took place during this year's Design Miami/Basel.
John Lewis opens “school of service” for staff to boost customer experience
John Lewis has launched a “school of service” for staff to provide lessons on better customer experience after facing criticism that standards in stores have been slipping.
There are plans to retrain 500 staff before Christmas, in hopes a renewed focus on helping shoppers will boost sales.
Instagram to let influencers create their own shops
Instagram’s affiliate marketing test will be adding a shoppable landing page for influencers. The news was reported by Business Insider.
Instagram users will slowly begin seeing a “View Shop” button on select influencers’ pages.