A new battle front for the rivalry between Edinburgh and Glasgow opened up today with the announcement that department store group Harvey Nichols has not yet chosen between the two cities for its first Scottish store.
Harvey Nichols said it was “at an advanced stage of negotiations” for a site in either city, but “a number of issues” were delaying the final decision.
The announcement came as the department store and restaurant group announced record profits for 1997. Harvey Nichols has two stores, in Knightsbridge and in Leeds as well as Oxo Tower, a restaurant in London.
In common with many other retailers, Harvey Nichols chairman Dickson Poon said the group had experienced “several periods of sluggish trading” during the year. That forced the company to cut prices by more than usual during the January and July sales.
And despite recent figures showing retail sales are still on the up, Poon said the company had noticed a “generally tougher retail environment”. But he added that the company was “still cautiously optimistic” that it could continue to grow this year.
Pre-tax profits for the year to March 28 jumped to £14.07m from £12.14m on the back of sales worth £128.54m, up from £114.3m.
EGi News 22/06/98
