AUGUST TRADE NEWS Bad weather blamed for shopping centre delay Chester council  not supporting retailers New rules 'won't help save retail centre' Irish shoppers look abroad for bargains British consumers spend more on beauty products Yorkshire town gets behind plastic bag reduction scheme Rising obesity prompts calls for VAT rule changes eBay restructures fee scheme to make fixed-priced sales cheaper Online sales boom despite slowdown Music retailer goes out of business Matalan named and shamed for how it treats wholesalers BCC slams higher parking charges proposals Booming wholesaler moves to new warehouse Market traders told to only 'shout quietly' London's retailers show growth despite gloom Counterfeit goods dealer sentenced to prison UK's smallest town protests supermarket plan More retailers and wholesalers going out of business Online retail sector predicted to expand rapidly Henley retailers protest development plans Retail sales continue to slow Tiffany appeals US court's eBay ruling Report criticises electricity suppliers' treatment of small businesses MK retailers protest Tesco expansion plan Yorkshire retailers protest supermarket move Manchester wholesaler shut down over fraud worries Businesses welcome plans to reduce red tape Rate hold accepted by small businesses Internet sales put pressure on the high street Huge counterfeit goods haul in Somerset Irish entrepreneur online retail plans Wholesaler sector set to struggle Staycations could help British retailers Retailers 'gloomy' about economic outlook Retailers report footfall continues to decline as consumers cut back Hidden door reveals huge counterfeiting operation in Manchester shop No recession for the UK this year East London wholesaler goes into receivership London mayor reveals plans to support small retailers Toy retailers defy gloom Retailers urged to embrace online sales Trade News Archive August 08 July 08 June 08 May 08 April 08 March 08 February 08 January 08 Subscribe to our newsletter   Go to The Wholesaler UK Directory 6th August 2008 Irish entrepreneur puts online retail plans on hold Irish entrepreneur Ben Dunne has revealed that he has put on hold plans to compete online against the chain of department stores he previously owned. Reports had suggested that the 59-year-old business man was considering launching an online retail site that would sell everything from low-priced suits to light bulbs. If the site had launched, he would have been in direct competition with the online site of the chain of shops he controlled until 1992. However, the Irish Independent has now reported that Mr Dunne has abandoned the plans because they were not financially viable and carried too much risk. According to the paper, Mr Dunne said that there was now only a "one in a thousand chance" of making a success of an online retailer business. "If I was Dunnes Stores I would be far more worried about Aldi and Lidl than I would be about competing online," he concluded. In 1981, Mr Dunne was kidnapped by the IRA and held for seven days. He was subsequently released unharmed.   (c) 2008 Adfero Ltd. Sponsor of August Trade News Samsung TV Brackets   Comment on this news story To comment on any story please click on the above link, put the story title in the subject line and please provide your name, trading style ie. retailer or wholesaler and the town where you trade.