Carrefour has set up a joint venture with a French distributor to develop a range of store formats in eight countries in West and Central Africa. The partnership with CFAO will be owned at 55% by CFAO and 45% by Carrefour and will have exclusive distribution rights in Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic... Continue Reading →

THE Foschini Group, South Africa’s third-biggest listed clothing retailer, missed estimates with an 11% rise in full-year profit as debt-laden consumers cut back on spending. Foschini, which also sells jewellery and furniture, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 851.3c in the year ended March compared with 766.1c a year earlier. The result fell short... Continue Reading →

UK to set up business centres in UAE to help SMEs The UK is to set up business centres in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in a bid to help British small and medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to set up in the UAE and was chosen as the launch market for a global business masterplan by... Continue Reading →

Spar International has reported worldwide retail sales growth of 2.8% in 2012 to €32 billion. The retail chain has operations in 34 countries with plans to expand to 36 in 2013 with supermarkets scheduled to open in Qatar and Lebanon. Spar's global operations include 12,322 stores internationally. Speaking at the 58th International Spar congress in... Continue Reading →

IMG Group's Worlds of Adventure theme park in Dubai is set to open in early 2014, a senior executive with the developer has said. The theme park, which will be located in Dubai’s much-delayed City of Arabia development in Dubailand, will consist of four zones – the Marvel Universe, the Cartoon Network zone, the Lost... Continue Reading →

Sports Direct has announced that it is to expand internationally with the acquisition of majority stakes in two European sporting goods retailers. The group has entered into an agreement to acquire a 51% equity stake in Sports Eybl & Sports Experts (EAG), the leading sporting goods retailer in Austria, for €10.5 million plus an agreed... Continue Reading →

Shoprite brings 150 jobs NHLANGANO – Shoprite Checkers has added a stimulating effect to the economy of the small town of Nhlangano by availing about 150 jobs to locals. The 150 employees will constitute staff for the retailer’s new outlet in Nhlangano as Shoprite- Checkers spreads its wings, adding to the growth of business in... Continue Reading →

(Photo for illustrative purposes only) Dutch supermarket chain Spar is to enter Lebanon with the opening of 10 stores over the next five years. Spar, the world’s largest co-operative of independent food retailers and wholesalers, currently operates more than 12,000 stores across 35 countries worldwide. The licensing agreement between Business Management Integrated (BMI) Holding and... Continue Reading →

Dubai conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) could seek to acquire a stake in regional supermarket chain Spinneys, the firm’s CEO said. Speaking to Al Bawaba at the World Economic Forum in Jordan, MAF CEO Iyad Malas said his company was in the “early stages” of looking at deal to buy private equity firm Abraaj Group’s... Continue Reading →

Tesco Ireland has appointed PJ Clarke as its new chief executive. Mr Clarke, who has held a number of senior positions in the company, will succeed Tony Keohane. Mr Keohane is to become chairman of Tesco Ireland from July, having served seven years as chief executive. He has been chief executive since 2006, having joined... Continue Reading →

A GUIDE TO RETAILING IN 2018 BY THE CENTRE FOR RETAIL RESEARCH The Centre for Retail Research published its analysis of how UK retailing will have changed by 2018 on 28 May 2013, entitled Retail Futures 2018. Retail Futures 2018 forecasts that by 2018: Total store numbers will fall by 22%, from 281,930 today to... Continue Reading →

A new report published by the Centre for Retail Research looks at how UK retailing will have changed by 2018. The ‘Retail Futures 2018′ report forecasts that by 2018: Total store numbers will fall by 22%, from 281,930 today to 220,000 in 2018 Job losses could be around 316,000 compared to today The share of... Continue Reading →

Mr Price online shopping site goes global Mr Price website MRP.co.za Mr Price will launch its online shopping website globally on Monday, meaning shoppers from around the world will be able to buy the value fashion retailer’s apparel. The company’s e-commerce venture first went live in South Africa last year. "The launch of the apparel... Continue Reading →

Marks & Spencer, one of the UK’s largest retail operations, will not open any new stores from 2016 onwards after falling high street income has had a major impact on the company’s bottom line. The company, founded in Leeds in 1884, is Britain’s largest clothing retailer, operating over 766 stores throughout the UK. The well-known... Continue Reading →

House of Fraser's flagship Oxford Street store in London. Online sales accounted for 10.9% of total sales in the year to end of January A dramatic increase in online sales has helped House of Fraser achieve a 3.3% rise in overall turnover to £1.2bn. However, the store chain continues to struggle to make a profit.... Continue Reading →

Fashion retailer LK Bennett has appointed Sarah Thornley as merchandising director, based at the company’s headquarters in London’s Cavendish Square. Thornley was previously at Burberry for 13 years, most recently as global director of merchandise for online and director of merchandise for Europe. Prior to this Sarah worked at luxury multi-brand and department store Harvey... Continue Reading →

DOHA: The Mall of Qatar is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2015, developer UrbaCon Trading & Contracting (UCC) announced yesterday. Construction on the project has been underway since 2012 and is proceeding on schedule. The Mall of Qatar is expected to welcome an estimated 20 million customers annually. The total project cost... Continue Reading →

US retail giant Amazon has unveiled plans for a futuristic greenhouse-style headquarters "where employees can work and socialize in a more natural, park-like setting". Here are the company's proposals. The internet company revealed photos and sketches of the plan, which will be submitted to Seattle city officials, becoming the latest of the technology heavyweights to... Continue Reading →

Marks & Spencer's annual profits fell to their lowest level in four years today, as food sales were offset by a slump in clothing sales. Underlying pre-tax profits for the year were £665.2 million, a fall of 6% on a year earlier and well below City forecasts for £710 million at the beginning of the... Continue Reading →

Spinneys to roll out online shopping this year Food retail chain Spinneys will roll out online shopping in territories across the Middle East this year, the company’s CEO told Arabian Business. The Beirut-based grocer, founded in 1924, will introduce online retail services in Lebanon, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt to complement its expansion in retail outlets,... Continue Reading →

Tesco is reportedly looking for a partner in China, a market the UK retail giant has been in for almost a decade but where it has slowed expansion in recent months. The Financial Times yesterday (19 May) reported Tesco, which has operated in China since 2004, wanted to form a joint venture to continue expanding... Continue Reading →

Giorgio Armani at the Emporio Armani spring/summer 2013 collection in Milan. Photograph: Stefano Rellandini/Reuters While many firms based in southern Europe are finding business tough, the designer label Giorgio Armani is continuing to thrive. Sales at Armani's fashion house rose 16% to €2bn in 2012, faster than a year earlier thanks to growth in all... Continue Reading →

The company said it will pay the special interim dividend of 0.5p per share to “show our appreciation to the shareholders for their continued support”. The dividend will mean a pay-out for the Malaysian investors that control around 60pc of the company. This includes the MUI Group, the conglomerate which rescued Laura Ashley in 1998... Continue Reading →

Luxury fashion label Burberry has today reported a 14 per cent rise in adjusted pre-tax profit to £428 million as strong sales in its Chinese operations drove growth. Total revenue saw an eight per cent uplift to £2 billion for the year ended March 31st 2013, though the group was detrimentally impacted by costs relating... Continue Reading →

Supermarket retailer Tesco is to expand its F&F clothing brand into new markets across the Middle East and Central Asia, with plans to open more than 50 franchise stores over the next five years. The UK's largest retailer said it will work with existing franchise partner Al Hokair to open stores in Kazakhstan and Georgia,... Continue Reading →

Luxury smartphone retailer Givori this week launched its new 2013 collection, which included an Italian handcrafted, 19 karat gold iPhone which retails at AED45,000 ($12,251) and is adorned with alligator skin, diamonds and gemstones. As part of Givori’s Charlotte Spring/Summer 2013 Collection it has signed an agreement with Dubai’s Damas Jewellery to sell the upmarket... Continue Reading →

Economic growth in the United Arab Emirates accelerated to 4.4 percent in inflation-adjusted terms in 2012 from a downwardly revised 3.9 percent the previous year as activity picked up across all sectors, its statistics office said on Sunday. "One of the most important factors is the role played by good and stable oil prices in... Continue Reading →

Shop vacancies have surged to a new high of 11.9% as retail failures including Comet and Jessops impacted shopping centres. The percentage of empty UK shops in April worsened from 10.9% in January and was the highest rate since the British Retail Consortium/Springboard survey began in 2011. High streets have been "vastly outperforming" shopping centres... Continue Reading →

A Circuit Civil Court has cut the rent paid by Dunnes Stores on the retail floor space of its George's Street, Dublin, head office by 35%. In cutting the rent the retail chain pays to Layden Properties George's Street Ltd, Judge Jacqueline Linnane said the rental for basement storage, offices and ancillary space would also... Continue Reading →

StartUp Britain has selected The Mall in Camberley as the first shopping centre in the UK to host a PopUp Britain outlet. PopUp Camberley will open in June with a mixture of home-grown and visiting retail start-ups, giving them their first taste of the high street. The pop-up shop will remain open for six weeks... Continue Reading →

Spar Group Ltd. (SPP), a South African food and liquor retailer, said first-half profit climbed 12 percent as higher prices countered slower consumer spending. Net income in the six months through March rose to R589.2 million ($64 million) from 523.8 million rand a year earlier, the Pinetown-based company said in statement today. Sales increased 9.5... Continue Reading →

Dubai retail giant Landmark Group will open more than ten new hotels under its mid-market Citymax brand over the next four to five years. Landmark, owned by billionaire Mickey Jagtiani, currently operates a trio of three-star properties in Dubai and Sharjah. According to the CEO of Landmark’s hospitality division, the new hotels will be across... Continue Reading →

For a long time, people thought about online retailing in South Africa in terms of questions like “Is it a feasible model for the country?” But that kind of thinking is several years out of date. Online retailing is a real and growing trend, and the question now is, how do online retailers keep the... Continue Reading →

New high street tea shop, Tea Monkey, is launching a concession in Mothercare’s Leeds store – it will be the brand’s third site. Tea Monkey, set up in 2011 by Tracey Bovingdon, has tea shops in Bath and Milton Keynes and is talks to open more sites this year. According to Tea Monkey, its tie... Continue Reading →

Rent cut for Dunnes Stores space in Dublin Dunnes Stores operates 10,500 sq ft of retail floor space in the 125-year-old listed building it also uses as a head office. A Circuit Civil Court yesterday cut the rent paid by Dunnes Stores on the retail floor space of its George’s Street, Dublin, head office by... Continue Reading →

JEDDAH - REDTAG, the region's leading value fashion, lifestyle and home ware retailer opened its 20th store at Serafi Mega Mall in western region last week. Commenting on the opening of the new REDTAG Showroom, Shehbaz Shaikh, Country Manager of REDTAG, said: "The new showroom, which is our 67th in the Kingdom, consolidates our position... Continue Reading →

McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), the world’s largest restaurant chain, said it plans to hire 75,000 new employees in China this year as the company accelerates store expansion in the world’s most populous country. The new hiring represents an increase of as much as 83 percent of the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company’s workforce in the Asian nation.... Continue Reading →

John Lewis has announced plans to open a new flexible format department store in Oxford which will create 500 jobs. The new 100,000 sq ft store in the city’s Westgate Centre will extend over three floors and will include a cafe and a dedicated customer collection entrance situated in the basement of the shopping centre’s... Continue Reading →

Marks & Spencer is in talks to anchor a €50 million shopping centre in Limerick city. The Irish Times reports sources in the M&S camp said they had been offered extremely attractive terms to anchor the Parkway Valley shopping centre which was abandoned five years ago when Liam Carroll's Zoe Group collapsed. M&S originally planned... Continue Reading →

Waitrose has signed a three-year deal with the England & Wales Cricket Board to become the new team sponsor of England Cricket from next year. As part of the sponsorship deal, the Waitrose logo will feature on all England teams' playing and training wear from the Investec Test Series against Sri Lanka in May 2014... Continue Reading →

UAE e-commerce firm Namshi will expand into Lebanon within the next month after receiving $13m in fresh investment. The web company, which specialises in fashion and lifestyle retail, announced the additional funding from growth equity firm Summit Partners on Monday. The investment follows prior capital injections of more than $20m from the likes of JP... Continue Reading →

Tim Hortons, Canada’s largest restaurant chain, has signed a new deal to open 100 stores in Saudi Arabia over the next five years, on top of the 120 it is planning in the Gulf by 2016, as drooping demand in its home markets put increased emphasis on its growth overseas. As part of its Q1... Continue Reading →

Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman will appear in Jimmy Choo's autumn 2013 advertising campaign The campaign marks the first season that Sandra Choi has been sole creative director of the luxury footwear and accessories brand. "I'm such a great admirer and feel enormously honoured to be working with Nicole Kidman," said Choi in a statement released... Continue Reading →

An unprecedented drop in rents has seen Ireland plunge to 40th in the rankings of the most expensive markets for retailers to lease space. Dublin was the 15th most expensive place in the world to rent retail space at the height of the boom but is now the 40th, according to a new survey by... Continue Reading →

view the ad here J.C. Penney is continuing its manners campaign with a new ad thanking customers as it works to recover from a $4.3 billion drop in revenue last year. The new spot, uploaded to YouTube last night, follows an ad released earlier this month apologizing to customers for a disastrous year of changes.... Continue Reading →

UK: New £7m Skelton Asda store to open this summer Asda will open its controversial multi-million-pound store in East Cleveland this summer, the retail giant has confirmed. The retailer is creating more than 150 new jobs at the £7m 25,000 square foot supermarket in Skelton. The supermarket is to open at 10am on Monday, June... Continue Reading →

Google is planning retail stores to sell its internet-connected glasses, Google Glass, we've heard second-hand from a source. Our source tells us he knows someone that is working at Google to develop the Glass stores. This person apparently meets with Sergey Brin to plot out the stores. When briefed on this story, Google said, "we... Continue Reading →

'E-commerce has become the cuckoo in the business nest,' said Laura Wade-Gery, director of multi-channel and e-commerce. Marks & Spencer is promising huge improvements to the way it serves online shoppers after opening a fully automated 900,000 sq ft warehouse in Castle Donington on Wednesday that will be able to handle 1m orders a day.... Continue Reading →

London department store Selfridges is to launch a new service allowing customers to order goods online then simply 'drive-thru' to collect them without even having to exit their cars The words 'drive-thru' usually conjure up images of McDonalds, but swish London department store Selfridges is hoping to change that with the introduction of a new... Continue Reading →

New York -- Target isn’t letting any grass grow under its feet when it comes to the suddenly hot category of home goods and home furnishings. The discounter has installed a giant, two-story dollhouse — some 21 ft. high and occupying some 1,500 sq. ft. of space, smack in the middle of Vanderbuilt Hall in... Continue Reading →