Supermarket group Iceland is to rebrand itself Iceland.co.uk in an attempt to cash in on the Internet boom and advertise its online shopping and home delivery service. The change is to take place over an 18 month period and will include the 31 Iceland stores in Northern Ireland and eight in the Republic.
The chain, which has more than 700 stores, is trying to ditch its downmarket image and is to spend £8m sterling on new fascias that will replace the distinctive 1980s-style Conran-designed logo which is at present hanging over its stores.
Iceland's chairman, Malcolm Walker, announced plans to rename the store chain he founded 30 years ago as he confirmed that he had decided to abandon the notion of an attempted deal with the struggling Storehouse group, which includes Bhs and Mothercare.
Iceland's tentative approach to Storehouse chairman Alan Smith, designed to preserve a deal to open 100 Iceland food halls in Bhs outlets, had a frosty reception from investors.
Finance director Andrew Pritchard said "We cooled on the idea when it became obvious our shareholders wanted us to stay with what we know." Iceland's decision to pull out came as a potential bidder for the loss-making group, the Poundstretcher discount retailer Brown & Jackson, announced that it too was no longer interested. Shares in Storehouse lost 23%, falling 10.5p to 36p as news of the double blow emerged.
Iceland was reporting full-year profits of £59.1m, up from £55.1m. Mr Walker said the dot.com rebranding was to underline the fact that Internet shopping is now an integral part of the business. He said at current sales levels, Iceland would generate online sales of more than £15m this year, putting it among the dot.com elite.
In a reference to the heady valuations of some e-business players, he said "For all the valuations of these companies, we are one of the largest UK net businesses in terms of sales. Net orders are 5,000 a week." Said Mr Pritchard "We are the third-biggest retailer in the country on the net, after Tesco and Amazon, and we are making money doing it."
