Search
Close this search box.

PEAK 2019 Black Friday sales underway at leading retailers, plus pop-up shops with a difference

This is an archived article - we have removed images and other assets but have left the text unchanged for your reference

In today’s Peak 2019 round up, we report as leading Top500 retailers launch their Black Friday sales, and we report on some pop-up shops with a difference. 

Black Friday sales go live

We’re a week out from Black Friday itself – which this year falls on November 29 – but major retailers are already running their Black Friday sales. 

Argos, an Elite retailer in IRUK Top500 research, launches its Black Friday sale today, and brought in sports news presenters Chris Kamara and Olivia Wayne to break the deals in a deadline day-style news bulletin. It has lined up discounts on electricals, technology and toys from brands including Dyson, Samsung and GoPro. 

James Brown, commercial director at Argos, said: “Black Friday is the perfect time to score some great deals, but we know it can be tough for customers to keep up with all the latest price drops; in fact, it’s not dissimilar to the drama of football transfer day.

“So, it was an obvious choice to recruit football news experts, Chris Kamara and Olivia Wayne, to help our customers tackle Black Friday and find the best deals. Just what the gaffer ordered!”

A week-long Black Friday sale is also underway at Amazon, another IRUK Top500 Elite retailer. Its Black Friday Deals Store offers daily deals in categories from consumer electronics to toys, beauty, food and drink and gifts as well as Amazon’s own devices. Its Prime membership scheme features prominently during the event. Members can get early access to its flash sale ‘lightning’ deals – as well as access to 20 exclusive Premier League matches during the course of the month and discounted access to the premium tier of its Amazon Music Unlimited service. 

John Lewis is running what may be the longest Black Friday sale of all – in what looks like a break with its tradition of shorter sales.

Its Black Friday Event started today and runs until December 2, offering discounts across home, fashion, electricals and nursery items. The retailer, also ranked Elite in IRUK Top500 research, is offering its traditional price match for competitors – which may also explain its decision to go big on the discounting event this year.

Among the other IRUK Top500 Elite retailers, New Look is not yet running a Black Friday event but is today offering 25% off knitwear and presents, H&M is focussing on its Christmas shop, while Sainsbury’s is featuring Argos Black Friday offers on its website. 

Black Friday sales are also live at the Early Learning Centre, now run by The Entertainer, where deals of up to 50% off are on offer. Meanwhile Mothercare, former owner of the Early Learning Centre, is running a Black Friday closing down sale in which it promises to empty its warehouse. The retailer says that all orders will be processed and delivered, aiming to reassure customers at a time when the UK arm of the business is now in administration.

Currys PC World, meanwhile, is running a Black Tag event ahead of Black Friday and promises discounts of up to 50% on thousands of items. It appears to be holding its Black Friday event, however, over the course of just one day, and is running a Black Friday survival guide to encourage shoppers to plan ahead for the event. 

And fashion brand Jigsaw, which has in previous years steered clear of Black Friday discounting, is this year offering a Black Friday edit with discounts of up to 30% off. 

Pop-up shops with a difference

Sainsbury’s is launching a Giving Store in London this Christmas. 

The retailer, ranked Elite in IRUK Top500 research, is launching a pop-up donation shop in London’s Covent Garden where shoppers can choose presents to give to those in need.

Customers will pay a £5 donation to go into the shop – although children can go in for free – where they can choose from a range of items that food banks have highlighted as priorities, from non-perishable food and toiletries to toys.

Judith Batchelar, director of Sainsbury’s Brand, said: “If every person doing their Christmas shopping this December donated one extra item – be that a can of soup or a roll-on deodorant – over 50m products could be donated to those in need this festive season.

“We want to do what we can to encourage shoppers to donate food and toys and do so in a way that teaches children the importance of helping others, particularly around the festive season.”

The store is designed around children and families, promising a Dickensian style shopping experience that will take them through the store, ending at a traditional check out, where customers can buy and donate the goods they picked up in the shop. 

The pop-up will open on Short Gardens, WC2, at 4pm on Thursday December 5, and will then be open 11am-8pm until Sunday 8 December.

Meanwhile, payments provider Klarna is raising money for an animal welfare charity at a ‘pup-up’ festive shop that it says will celebrate dog ownership. The store will be open in Soho, London on November 27 and 28 and promises pampering time for dogs and their owners. Dog grooming will be on offer alongside manicures and haircuts for their owners. 

Klarna says that the festive season should be about spending time with those you love. “At Klarna we create experiences where you shop for what you love, for the ones you love. And that’s what the ‘Who’s a Good Shopper’ campaign is all about – a celebration of the relationship between dog owners and their beloved dogs,” said David Sandstrom CMO of Klarna. ”Throughout the campaign we will show how Klarna offers the best shopping experience for people and their furry best friends – starting with bringing them all together to experience just that, in our stylish pup up.”

Customer will be able to pose for a pet portrait from Woof Portraits, or buy a sweater with an embroidered portrait of their pet from Hoop & Loop. They can also shop the Klarna directory. The pup-up store will be at 15 Bateman Street, Soho. Proceeds will go to the Wild at Heart Foundation, which supports animal welfare projects including dog rescut, adoption and rehoming. For more details click here.

Main image: Adobe Stock

Second image: Courtesy of Sainsbury’s

Read More

Register for Newsletter

Group 4 Copy 3Created with Sketch.

Receive 3 newsletters per week

Group 3Created with Sketch.

Gain access to all Top500 research

Group 4Created with Sketch.

Personalise your experience on IR.net