Sheikh Zayed Road, 1995 Photographer: Gulf News; observed by Asad Azizi, 29, Iranian, who has lived in Dubai all his life. This picture was snapped from the World Trade Centre, not long after the Crowne Plaza hotel was built – when they first proposed building it, everyone thought it was a mad idea to build... Continue Reading →

Emaar Properties said it will expand Dubai Mall to include luxury homes, serviced residences and a new hotel as part of its 1m sq ft expansion. Emaar Properties, Dubai’s largest property developer, said it will expand Dubai Mall to include luxury homes, serviced residences and a new hotel as part of its 1m sq ft... Continue Reading →

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Victorinox Swiss Army today announced the release of its first USB designed specifically for Mac users. Fittingly named the Jetsetter, the USB features flight-friendly Swiss Army implements along with a detachable flash drive, and is pre-loaded with security software specific to Mac devices. "The Jetsetter offers Mac... Continue Reading →

Zee Report::Fashion news SEPHORA Announces The 2013-2014 PRO Artists! SEPHORA is proud to announce the new SEPHORA PROs, a team of 17 elite beauty experts that will travel the Americas throughout 2013 and 2014, showcasing the highest level of beauty artistry on behalf of the brand. Selected from a nationwide search that included hundreds of... Continue Reading →

Tiffany Shares Tumble After Cutting Profit Forecast Tiffany & Co. (TIF), the world’s second- largest luxury jewelry retailer, cut its annual profit forecast for the third time this year after higher diamond costs ate into margins and customers curbed spending in weak economies. Enlarge image A man pets a dog outside the Tiffany & Co.... Continue Reading →

Express, Inc., a specialty retail apparel chain operating more than 600 stores, today announced its third quarter 2012 financial results for the thirteen and thirty-nine week periods ended October 27, 2012, which compares to the same period ended October 29, 2011 last year. Michael Weiss, Express, Inc.'s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented: "The third... Continue Reading →

SOUTH African grocery retailer Pick n Pay on Thursday opened its fifth Zambian store in Kitwe, the country’s second-largest city. The retailer, which opened its first store in Zambia in 2010, already had three stores in Lusaka and one in Ndola. Next year it plans to open more stores in Luanshya, Lusaka and Ndola. Pick... Continue Reading →

FRANCHISING in South Africa has grown steadily, especially in the fast-food industry, but franchises still face challenges when expanding to other African countries and globally, says First National Bank (FNB). At FNB’s first franchising leadership summit in Sandton on Wednesday, the bank estimated that franchising in South Africa was growing between 5% and 7% a... Continue Reading →

Ireland: Dunnes stores faces winding up petition Ireland-based retailer Dunnes Stores is facing a wind up petition over sunnesnon-payment of about €21.6 million for a shopping centre development in county Kilkenny. The retail chain is facing uncertainty after it failed to pay the money to development company Holtglen Ltd, which is now insolvent with loans... Continue Reading →

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Irish retail sales volumes posted their largest growth this year in October, climbing 3.1 percent from a year earlier, government figures showed on Wednesday. Volumes were 1.7 percent higher in October than in September, also their largest monthly rise of the year, provisional data from the Central Statistics office showed. The... Continue Reading →

Store on Regent Street Marks New Phase in Retailer's International Expansion J.Crew Group, Inc. has announced that it will open its first store outside of North America on Regent Street, in the heart of London's premier shopping district. The retailer secured a 17,000-square-feet location on the corner of Regent Street and New Burlington Street. The... Continue Reading →

Next month, Tommy Bahama is opening a restaurant at its new flagship store in Manhattan. Shoppers will be able to buy one of the chain’s signature tropical print shirts and then order the Macadamia-nut encrusted snapper. More and more retailers are following the Tommy Bahama model these days, using food and drink to lure customers... Continue Reading →

Dubai Modern Art Museum and Opera House District Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in March announced plans to establish a cultural district which will include a museum, two art hotels and an opera house. The Dubai Modern Art Museum and Opera House District will be located in Emaar's flagship Downtown Dubai and... Continue Reading →

LONDON - ASOS, the fast growing British online fashion retailer, said it had invested in a firm that buys and sells pre-owned designer clothing as it seeks to extend its reach to the luxury resale market. ASOS said on Monday it had made "a significant minority investment" in Covetique, appointed a senior representative board member... Continue Reading →

Abercrombie and Wal-Mart Stores Inc were among the perceived winners in a four-day weekend when some stores opened on Thanksgiving night and people shopped online in greater numbers than ever before. The National Retail Federation trade group reported on Sunday that total sales for the four days from Thanksgiving through Sunday had risen 12.8 percent... Continue Reading →

Officials in the UAE are reviewing a draft commercial law that will allow 100 percent foreign ownership of some companies. Officials in the UAE are reviewing a draft commercial law that will allow 100 percent foreign ownership of some companies, Bloomberg reported, citing the undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development. The Abu... Continue Reading →

Phase one of Dubai’s newly approved AED10bn (US2.7bn) entertainment and leisure development, which will include five theme parks based on movies and characters from Hollywood and Bollywood movies, will be completed in 2014, it was confirmed on Monday. Dubai master developers Meraas Holding have been appointed to develop the project, located at Jebel Ali, Dubai... Continue Reading →

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Edcon Holdings (Pty) Ltd., South Africa’s largest clothing retailer, said second-quarter sales rose and losses narrowed compared with last year as the retail environment improved slightly from the first quarter. The loss was 592 million rand ($67 million) in the three months through September, versus 1.2 billion rand a year earlier,... Continue Reading →

The technology giant has been in discussion with a number of landlords in the UK, with its first outlets expected to open next year. Microsoft already has more than 50 retail stores in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico, selling devices such as its Xbox console and Surface tablet. The move into retail comes shortly... Continue Reading →

Dunnes Stores faces a petition for winding up over its failure to honour a €21.6 million court judgment. The Irish Times reports that in 2009, Holtglen Ltd completed building The Ferrybank shopping centre in Kilkenny in which Dunnes had agreed to be the anchor tenant. However when Holtglen later became insolvent and its debts were... Continue Reading →

Dubai Giordano International will open a Dh5 million logistics centre in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) in January to service a growing number of stores in the GCC, Middle East and Africa, the company chairman and chief executive, Dr. Peter Lau, told Gulf News. The apparel retailer is also investing $5 million in opening... Continue Reading →

"The current facilities available in Dubai need to be scaled up in line with the future ambitions for the city," said Sheikh Mohammed. Though he did not reveal the cost of the project, it is expected to be several billions of dollars. The emirate, which developed the world's tallest skyscraper Burj Khalifa and the Palm... Continue Reading →

Dubai Duty Free posts $1.29bn sales so far in 2012 Dubai Duty Free said on Sunday it is looking to achieve double digit sales growth for the year after sales up to the end of October reached AED4.71bn ($1.29bn). This represented an 11 percent increase over the same period last year, putting the operation on... Continue Reading →

Qatar-owned Harrods has announced that the wife of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been appointed to its board Sarah Brown has returned to the world of business as a non-executive director at the luxury department store retailer. Brown has been appointed to advise on developing marketing plans, including corporate social responsibility programmes, UK... Continue Reading →

Al Ghurair (also known as Al Ghurair Investment LLC) -- one of the largest UAE conglomerates with diversified businesses -- on Wednesday announced the appointment of Constantin Salameh as Group CEO. Salameh will lead multiple business units including Foods, Construction, Resources, Properties, Energy, Printing, Retail and Education. AbdulAziz Al Ghurair , company chairman expressed that... Continue Reading →

Leading UK footwear brand, Clarks, is launching a click and collect service through the CollectPlus network of stores. CollectPlus will also be providing a returns service for those customers shopping with Clarks. With 5,000 CollectPlus stores and petrol stations in the network, all of which open early until late and often seven days a week,... Continue Reading →

International retail sales were up from £338.3m last year to £374.8m while UK sales fell from £262.7m to £240m. But the UK fall, representing 3.4pc, was far less drastic than the 7pc over the same period the year before. Mothercare currently runs 1,400 shops globally, with 280 in the UK. Earlier this year it admitted... Continue Reading →

Ikea is a step closer to launching wholly owned stores in India as part of a US$1.9 billion (Dh6.97bn) investment plan. The Swedish furniture giant has been given the go-ahead by India's foreign investment promotion board. A reform announced in January by the government removed a cap at 51 per cent for foreign investment from... Continue Reading →

British value fashion retailer New Look posted a 25 percent rise in underlying first half earnings as it removed costs and improved margins as part of a recovery plan following a slump in earnings in 2011-12. The firm, owned by private equity groups Apax, Permira and founder Tom Singh, also said on Tuesday its current... Continue Reading →

LONDON - Mulberry has become the latest luxury brand to warn on profit, blaming both lower-than-expected international retail sales and a shortfall on wholesale revenue. "Mulberry now expects group revenue growth for the year to March 31 2013 to be below market expectations," the firm said on Tuesday. "As a result of this, combined with... Continue Reading →

Philip Green, the billionaire owner of the TopShop fashion chain, said he may spend 5 billion pounds ($8 billion) on an acquisition should the opportunity arise. “If something turns up that we like, we might do it,” Green, 60, said in a telephone interview today. “We’re in a position where we could look at anything.... Continue Reading →

LONDON (Reuters) - British bicycles-to-car-parts group Halfords posted a 23 percent slump in first half profit as a better second quarter sales performance failed to offset a poor start to the year. The firm, which trades from over 460 Halfords stores in the UK and Ireland as well as over 260 Autocentres, said on Wednesday... Continue Reading →

Philip Green with Kourtney and Kim Kardashian at the launch of their clothing line at Dorothy Perkins this month. Photograph: Chris Helgren/Reuters Retail tycoon Sir Philip Green, who owns the Topshop-to-BHS Arcadia group, has urged fellow retailers to stop moaning about the economic climate and get on with it. "We've got to trade. I can't... Continue Reading →

TWO major UK supermarket chains have ruled out the possibility of taking space in the unopened Naas Shopping Centre development in the centre of the town. The multi million development is now part of NAMA’s portfolio of commercial properties. Neither Sainsbury’s, which has a store in Newry, nor Asda have any plans to open a... Continue Reading →

Saudi Arabia-based bookstore chain Jarir Marketing Co plans to expand the number of its stores by at least 70 percent in the next five years to take advantage of the Gulf region's rapid population growth. The kingdom's largest listed retailer plans to spend SR120-150m ($32-40m) a year, or about 20 percent of retained earnings, on... Continue Reading →

Foschini Ltd., a South African clothing and household goods retailer with nearly 2,000 stores, said it plans to open its first stores in Mozambique and Ghana as it accelerates an expansion drive outside its home market. Foschini operated 1,920 stores at the end of September, of which 62 were in Namibia, 16 in Botswana, 12... Continue Reading →

CHICAGO - Gap Inc posted a bigger quarterly profit on Thursday and quelled fears of a possible slowdown ahead of the holiday season as the retailer raised its profit view for the year, sending its shares up 3 percent after the bell. The owner of the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic chains expects to... Continue Reading →

The High Street’s fortunes have hit a new low, with more than one in ten shops across the country now standing empty. The situation is expected to get even worse as more closures will result from the winding down of failed electrical retailer Comet. The UK town centre vacancy rate was 11.3pc in October, according... Continue Reading →

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum has taken delivery of the world’s first all-aluminium Range Rover. Al Tayer Motors, the official distributor for Range Rover in the UAE, on Sunday confirmed it had delivered two of the world’s first 2013 Range Rovers to the Dubai royal family. Sheikh Mohammed’s limited edition Range Rover... Continue Reading →

One in five local shops is empty, according to the NIRC Shop Vacancy survey. It's the highest rate in the UK - and if not for charity and pop up shops high streets would look pock marked with empty premises. With the Christmas shopping season getting into full swing, Aodhan Connolly from the Retail Consortium... Continue Reading →

Penélope Cruz will be the new face of Loewe come January 2013. The Oscar-winning star has signed a three-year contract with the LVMH brand, proving her desire to work with the label in the long term. The first campaign will be released this Spring. For Stuart Vevers, artistic director of the fashion house created in... Continue Reading →

Stricken electricals retail chain Comet will close 41 stores by the end of the month unless a buyer can be found, administrators have confirmed. Redundancies were "inevitable" although administrators Deloitte said they would look to place staff from closing stores into other nearby outlets. Up to 500 jobs could be under threat at 27 of... Continue Reading →

"We want to do something that is uniquely Amazon," said Mr Bezos. "If we can find that idea - and we haven't found it yet - but if we can find that idea, we would love to open physical stores." Amazon's success as an online retailer is reshaping the way consumers shop and exerting huge... Continue Reading →

RETAILER Woolworths said on Thursday that sales increased 15.9% for the 20 weeks to November 11, compared with the same period a year ago. Food sales advanced 11.2%, while clothing sales in South Africa gained 13.7% and general merchandise grew 11.5%, the Cape Town-based group said. Avior Research analyst Michael Mcleod said the update was... Continue Reading →

HONG KONG - Shares of Esprit Holdings Ltd jumped as much as 33 percent on Thursday after its former chairman increased his holding in the Europe-focused fashion retailer, fuelling hopes he would play a bigger role in the company. Esprit, which sells everything from bed sheets to jeans and generates three-quarters of its sales in... Continue Reading →

STOCKHOLM - Hennes & Mauritz, the world's second-largest fashion retailer, reported an unexpected 5 percent fall in comparable sales in October as it suffers from weak demand in crisis-hit Europe. The fall in October sales in stores open for more than a year in local currencies compared with the average forecast in a Reuters poll... Continue Reading →

Nike Agrees to Sell Cole Haan to Apax for $570 Million Nike Inc. (NKE), the world’s largest athletic-shoe maker, agreed to sell its Cole Haan fashion brand to private-equity firm Apax Partners for $570 million as it focuses on faster-growing businesses. The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2013, Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike said... Continue Reading →

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MILAN - Italy's luxury shoemaker Tod's said on Tuesday sales continued to fall in its core market in the nine-month to the end of September as the country is in a deep recession. The maker of leather loafers said global sales grew 7.3 percent to 749.9 million euros ($953 million) in the nine months to... Continue Reading →