Marks & Spencer to hold one-day 20% off sale -FT
LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest clothing retailer, Marks & Spencer Group Plc (MKS.L), will hold a "one-day 20 percent off sale" on Wednesday to stimulate flagging revenue, The Financial Times newspaper reported.
The paper also said on Wednesday it had seen data from researcher TNS that showed M&S losing market share in both ladieswear and menswear but gaining in childrenswear.
An M&S sale would come the day after John Lewis Partnership [JLP.UL], the employee-owned group seen as a barometer of British retail spending, said sales at its department stores plunged 14 percent year-on-year in the week to Nov. 15.
Many British retailers are struggling as consumers cut back on spending or turn to discounters amid rising unemployment and falling house prices as the country enters recession.
On Nov. 4, M&S posted a smaller-than-expected fall in first-half profit, reassured investors on its dividend but warned trading will remain difficult throughout 2009.
Executive chairman Stuart Rose said at the time he was taking a "glass half-full" attitude to the crucial Christmas season and hoped to stimulate trade with a TV advertising campaign featuring pop group Take That. (Reporting by Dan Lalor; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
