News

Welcome to our weekly round-up of news from the packaging industry's biggest clients.

Retailers

Spar is telling customers it's got "Christmas sorted" through a £500,000 marketing campaign on TV, radio and in the press over the next three weeks.

Back to the Future? New owner Vision Capital has changed the name of off-licence chain Threshers Group back to First Quench Retailing - the name that it had before it was bought by private equity company Terra Firma Capital Partners in 2002.

It has to be online next year, when Asda relaunches its home delivery service. The supermarket giant promises that the site will be easier to use, quicker and feature a better search engine.

In for a penny, in for a Poundland. The discount retailer opened its 200th store last week and remains on track to open 30 new stores this financial year, creating 1,000 new jobs.

Dragons' Den star Theo Paphitis is out. Names still in the frame to buy Woolworths include Iranian property magnate Ardeshir Naghshineh, who owns 10% of the retailer's equity, and a management buyout led by Tony Page, who currently runs Woolworths' stores and discount general retailer Wilkinsons. Most supermarket groups have indicated that they would only be interested in a certain stores.

Not one to do things by the book, Home Retail Group, which owns Argos and Homebase, has acquired certain rights to the Alba and Bush trademarks. The move means HRG will be able to continue to sell product lines that Alba had planned to discontinue.

Brands

Jill Beraud is living life to the max following her appointment to the newly created position of chief marketing officer at Pepsico. Beraud will responsible for providing leadership in determining the style and functionality of packaging based on consumer needs.

Procter & Gamble's acquisition of a 1% stake in online retailer Ocado has triggered speculation that the household goods giant is looking to create an e-commerce website to sell its brands directly to consumers in the UK.

Unilever is sure "anxious sweaters" will choose its new high-performance cream deodorant, which will be launched in January backed by a major advertising campaign.

The FMCG giant is also getting into a lather with the purchase of the soap business of Cosmivoire, an Ivorian producer with a market presence throughout Francophone West Africa. It has however sold its edible oil business in Côte d'Ivoire along with its interests in local oil palm plantations, Palmci and PHCI.

It seems people are literally hiding from the credit crunch under their bedcovers. SSL International, the manufacturers of Durex condoms, has reported an increase in sales, particularly in the UK, France, Eastern Europe, Russia and China.