Visa Inc's first-quarter profit beat Wall Street targets on Thursday as its payments volume held steady with Americans still spending on international travel despite an economic slowdown.

​Following an increasingly tough 2022 for UK retail, footfall this year won’t return to pre-pandemic levels and the gap from 2019 and will settle at between -5% and -10%, according to retail experts Springboard.

Sustainability hats off to two retail destinations. Quayside MediaCity in Salford and Gloucester Quays have become the first shopping centres to achieve ‘Net Zero Carbon – Operational Energy’.

Liverpool One is building on its commitment to creating a difference for its visitors via independent brands and innovative concepts. So the mall has introduced a MerseyMade pop-up of local artisans’ and artists’ work. 

Los Angeles-based designer Clare Vivier will open her fourteenth Clare V.'s boutique in Washington D.C. at the end of spring. FashionNetwork.com sat down with her to talk about strategies and projects with her brand. 

​WGSN and Cannes Lions owner Ascential delivered a strong trading update Wednesday, but also announced surprise news: its WGSN trends service is up for sale following a strategic review that it launched last spring.

Freemans Grattan Holdings has extended its media deal with iProspect UK after a decade working together in which they relaunched Freemans as a pureplay digital department store and saw growth outstripping the market.

There’s been an executive reshuffle at the THG Group. Damian Sanders has been appointed Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect. That comes as previous CFO John Gallemore now becomes Chief Operating Officer.

Covent Garden has introduced a big splash of colour to brighten up London’s dreary winter days. The major retail area and tourist attraction has introduced a ‘Covent Garden in Colour’ campaign via artist Lois Lillian.

In a sign secondhand shopping is becoming mainstream in 2023, charity shops are to issue a first-of-its-kind sustainable shopping gift card.

While China has now reopened its borders after more than two years of Covid restrictions, the country is forecast to become a major tourist destination in a report from the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Primark's trading update has revealed more upbeat news with the chain “good in all markets and ahead of expectation”. Total sales and like-for-likes rose in double digits and city centre footfall recovered.

After opening its first store dedicated to luggage and travel accessories in Paris on December 22, Gucci is set to open a store dedicated to bags and accessories in Los Angeles, on Melrose Place.

UK supermarket giant Sainsbury’s is to shutter all of its Argos general merchandise stores in the Republic of Ireland. Some 34 sites across the country will close by June with the loss of 580 jobs.

​The slight rally in consumer confidence in the final quarter of last year proved to be short-lived with the January Blues making an unwelcome return. And we’re in for a “bumpy ride” this year, according to GfK.

It may have been the key festive shopping month, but the volume of UK retail sales still fell in December, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday. And it added that clothing saw a very slight volume uptick.