Woolworths to open 18 new Country Road, Trenery stores Woolworths CEO Ian Moir. Picture: FINANCIAL MAIL WOOLWORTHS will open 18 new Country Road and Trenery stores in South Africa over the next three years, the retailer said on Thursday. The Cape Town-based group has ramped up its fashion credibility through supply-chain changes as entrants such... Continue Reading →

JOINING a slew of foreign retailers hoping to tap into Africa’s mushrooming middle class, Swedish cheap-and-chic fashion seller H&M will open its first store in South Africa in 2015, the company said on Thursday. Companies including Walmart‚ Inditex’s Zara and Arcadia Group’s Topshop have already made a play for Africa‚ through South Africa. The continent‚... Continue Reading →

Spar to open Angola store Johannesburg - Spar Group Ltd., a South African food and liquor retailer, is working with an Angolan partner to open a store in the country’s capital, Luanda, in the next six months, Finance Director Mark Godfrey said. “Spar will provide products and logistics support,” Godfrey said in an interview last... Continue Reading →

Outlet was planned to open late last year UAE-based well-diversified group Al Futtaim will open its much-delayed Ikea store in Cairo, Egypt, in the next quarter, a senior company official said on Wednesday. John Kersten, Managing Director of Ikea UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Oman, said the group will open an Ikea outlet in the troubled... Continue Reading →

Seattle -- Nordstrom is expanding its partnership with Britain’s fashion-forward women’s apparel brand, Topshop, as well its men’s unit, Topman. Beginning in September, Nordstrom will add 28 Topshop departments and eight Topman departments in stores across the country. As part of the expansion, Nordstrom and Topshop will partner on a national campaign. The expansion will... Continue Reading →

A combination Toys R Us and Babies R Us store in San Antonio. The company plans to open more than 100 stores in the United States, France, Germany, Spain, U.K. and China this year alone. Wayne, N.J.-based retailer Toys “R” Us Inc. recently announced plans to open more than 100 stores — more than 900,000... Continue Reading →

Jumeirah Park and Discovery Gardens will get community centres by early 2014 Dubai: Property developer Nakheel is planning to open a shopping centre in its Al Furjan residential development, the company said in a statement on Monday. Nakheel has completed and handed over all 819 homes in Al Furjan, which is located close to Discovery... Continue Reading →

ONE of the country's most prestigious department stores has warned that jobs may be put at risk after it was hit with a 47pc hike in its annual commercial rates bill. Brown Thomas expects to pay €1.14m to Dublin City Council next year, a €400,000 increase on 2013, under a new system of calculating rates... Continue Reading →

Take-up of retail space at Mall of Zimbabwe Millennium Park in the plush Borrowdale suburb of Harare has exceeded expectations reaching 75 percent, despite delays in the project construction. Image gallery Take-up of retail space at Mall of Zimbabwe Millennium Park in the plush Borrowdale suburb of Harare has exceeded expectations reaching 75 percent, despite... Continue Reading →

World's largest Holiday Inn to be built in Makkah Dr. Hamad Al Ghammas and Pascal Gauvin celebrating the signing of the agreement between IHG and Makkah Real Estate Company. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Makkah Real Estate Company have signed an agreement to build the world’s largest Holiday Inn, the 1,238 room Holiday Inn Makkah,... Continue Reading →

Twenty-six new HMV stores are to open around the country as specialist ‘shop-in-shop’ projects within Xtra-vision outlets in the coming months. By Geoff Percival British commercial restructuring firm Hilco, which bought both brands from receivership earlier this year, is to announce the locations for the new dual store designs next week. At the same time,... Continue Reading →

After buying coffee from Colombia for almost half a century, Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) is finally opening a cafe there, part of its accelerating expansion in Latin America. The world’s largest coffee-shop operator will open a cafe in Bogota in the first half of next year and then five more locations later in 2014, Chief Executive... Continue Reading →

Internet research firm Hitwise has listed the top 50 UK e-retailers selling goods and services, in partnership with the the IMRG Index Classification. The list ranks shops by popularity (number of visits) between May and August 2008. There has been 1 new entrant, 17 risers, 23 fallers and 7 who have retained their position. IMRG-Hitwise... Continue Reading →

The Retail Ireland survey has found rates in Dublin could soar by up to 80% next year Retailers in Dublin could be facing a massive hike in their rates bill, according to IBEC group Retail Ireland. The group has released the results of its recent survey which shows that rates in the capital could jump... Continue Reading →

Regional and international retail executives will come together to discuss new approaches to compete for shoppers at a summit to be held in Dubai from September 8. The two-day InRetail Summit will focus on the challenges of standing out in a crowded market and how to create new customer experience and valuable products that match... Continue Reading →

JOHANNESBURG--Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s ( WMT ) South African retailer Massmart Holdings Ltd. (MSM.JO) plans to open 90 new stores across sub-Saharan Africa over the next three years, as the group targets growing markets like Nigeria and Angola. The group said the focus is on fresh food growth. It will open a stand-alone food store in... Continue Reading →

Apple has poached away a senior executive from clothing company Levi Strauss to serve as director of sales in the U.S., Mark Gurman 9to5Mac first reported. The exec's name is Enrique Atienza and he'll be in charge of retail operations on the west coast. However, Apple still doesn't have a senior vice president in charge... Continue Reading →

FOSCHINI, the JSE’s worst-performing clothing retailer this year, says it plans to open 21 new stores on the rest of the continent by March as consumers in Africa’s largest economy struggle to repay debt. The company, which owns the Fabiani and Charles & Keith fashion brands in South Africa, joins retailers such as Carrefour, Shoprite,... Continue Reading →

Abercrombie Falls After Profit Trails Analysts’ Estimates Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) plunged the most in more than 21 months after forecasting profit for the current quarter that was less than analysts estimated amid declining traffic at its stores. The shares slid 17 percent to $38.71 at 11:13 a.m. in New York and earlier fell... Continue Reading →

Superdry stores to open in Turkey SuperGroup, the maker of Superdry and Cult clothing, has agreed a five-year franchise agreement with luxury fashion retailer Demsa Group. Demsa will open three Superdry stores by early next year in Turkey, including two in Istanbul, and will launch at least eight during the five-year tie-up. Superdry clothing will... Continue Reading →

Johannesburg - Shoprite Holdings [JSE:SHP], the largest retailer in Africa, said on Tuesday it plans to open 171 new stores by June 2014, including 47 outside its home market. Shoprite, which currently operates 153 supermarkets in 16 countries outside of South Africa, made the statement in a document handed out at its full-year earnings news... Continue Reading →

The waiting list for the Birkin is set to grow even longer as luxury retailer Hermès expands to America following an 11.8 percent increase in revenues since last year with sales totaling at 3.5 billion euros. The first of three major American retail projects, Hermes’ newly renovated Beverly Hills flagship store will open in September... Continue Reading →

IN WHAT it described as a challenging year, Shoprite Holdings, reported an 11.3% increase in headline earnings per share for the year to June, to of 675c. Analysts say high unemployment and slow income growth have checked household expenditure, already crimped by soaring utility costs and rising debt. As the country’s main engine of growth,... Continue Reading →

Trade union Mandate yesterday issued the retailer with formal notice of industrial action beginning on September 10 at its stores in Tallaght and Dun Laoghaire, Mullingar and Naas. It said 88pc of the 180 Irish workers facing losing their jobs are angered that the company is insisting on compulsory redundancies only. General secretary John Douglas... Continue Reading →

Qatar is believed to be the Middle East sovereign wealth fund among the bidders hoping to buy US luxury department store chain Saks Fifth Avenue, according to reports in the US media. The unnamed fund, which the New York Post newspaper said was most likely to be Qatar, is part of three investors which are... Continue Reading →

The Asda account is one of the biggest advertising contracts in the UK and is estimated to be worth £100m. Saatchi & Saatchi has worked with the retailer since 2009, but the end of its contract also means the end of Asda’s 20-year relationship with Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi’s parent company. Saatchi & Saatchi was... Continue Reading →

South African retail space overtraded Desmond (Des) de Beer Managing director of Resilient Property Income Fund says developers of new shopping centres are vying so aggressively to sign up national tenants that incentives like full store fit-outs and cancellation clauses are becoming the norm Developers of new shopping centres are competing so aggressively to sign... Continue Reading →

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Rapper Dr Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine want to bring fresh investors into the business to grow a product beloved by footballers and celebrities. It comes as HTC, Taiwan’s largest smartphone maker, grapples with falling sales amid a highly competitive market. HTC bought a 50.1pc stake in Beats in August 2011 for $300m (£192m),... Continue Reading →

Uniqlo's debut childrenswear collection Uniqlo is our go-to brand for basics. Whether it's their Heattech thermals and bargain cashmere or their perfectly simple silk blouses, it never fails to please - and now it can please the little ones too. From today, the Japanese brand launches its first ever line of childrenswear, catering for newborns... Continue Reading →

The store will be in the Park House complex on Oxford Street and will be the largest Pandora concept store in the world The exclusively located 200 sqm retail space, over two floors, has been carefully designed by Grapes Associates, who have initiated a brand new evolution in the Pandora store design; one which will... Continue Reading →

Locals have expressed concern that plans for a flagship M&S store on the outskirts of Limerick city will be devastating for the city centre Limerick businesses have voiced concern that plans for a new Marks & Spencer flagship store on the outskirts of the city will bury hopes for a revitalisation of the city centre.... Continue Reading →

A leaked memo from Forever 21 shows the fast-fashion apparel retailer plans to cut the hours of some full-time employees and reclassify them as part-time, starting Sunday. "Company-wide, Forever 21 recently audited its staffing levels, staffing needs and payroll in conduction with reviewing its overall spending budget," Carla Macias, associate director of human resources at... Continue Reading →

When it generated sales of $15.7bn (£10.1bn) in its most recent quarter to June 30, how big were Amazon’s profits? Zero. It made a net loss of $7m. Given the retrenchment of retailers such as Tesco from the electricals market because of the growth of online sales, what share of the UK electricals market does... Continue Reading →

The cat was let out of the bag in May when Gisele was seen photographing H&M's autumn/winter 2013 campaign on a pretty central London street, and now we can finally see the official images. So chic does the Brazilian beauty look that we're fighting the urge to run out and buy our entire winter wardrobe... Continue Reading →

L’Oreal SA, (OR) the world’s largest maker of cosmetics, agreed to buy Magic Holdings International Ltd. (1633), a Chinese maker of cosmetic facial masks, for about HK$6.54 billion ($843 million) in cash to expand in Asia. L’Oreal will pay HK$6.30 per share for Hong Kong-based Magic, the companies said in a joint filing yesterday, a... Continue Reading →

Cincinnati -- Macy’s scaled back its earnings guidance for the remainder of the year in the wake of lower-than-expected net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2013. The retailer reported net income of $281 million, up from $279 million in the year ago period, but short of the roughly $304 million analysts had expected.... Continue Reading →

INVESTORS in D2 Private, including David Arnold, the father of actress Leigh Arnold, are close to bagging a significant profit by selling Marks & Spencer's headquarters in London for €240m. This is the final asset to be sold in the UK by D2, which once held a £1bn London portfolio. The colossal M&S building in... Continue Reading →

Leading sportswear brand, Adidas, is planning a UK roll out of its own-brand retail stores. Starting with the launch of a new Leeds store this Friday (16 August 2013), Adidas said it will set about expanding its own-store presence as part of a strategy to grow its share of the premium brand market. The Leeds... Continue Reading →

LVMH Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, the French luxury goods conglomerate part owned by Qatar, has expanded its hospitality division with the acquisition of the Hotel Saint-Barth Isle de France on the Caribbean island of Saint Barts. The latest addition to LVMH’s growing portfolio of five-star hotels consists of 39 rooms, suites and villas and was... Continue Reading →

LISTED retailer Spar Group has joined the foray into the forecourt stores business with the opening of its first Spar Express store in Germiston on Wednesday. Through a partnership with service station operator Shell, Spar is testing the waters of the forecourt business with the roll-out of about three or four Spar Express stores in... Continue Reading →

Has Bill Ackman Jumped the Shark in Retail? Bill Ackman resigned from J.C. Penney Co. (JCP)’s board after a public fight with his fellow directors, capping more than two years of agitating to remake the retailer that left him with $700 million in potential losses on his stake in the department-store chain. Ronald Tysoe, a... Continue Reading →

The new Finglas store has created 24 jobs for the local area Discounter Dealz has opened its 27th store in the Republic of Ireland with a new store opening in Finglas in north Dublin. The 5,000 sq ft store has also created 24 new jobs for the local area. The Finglas store brings to 27... Continue Reading →

The UAE’s Korath Holding has signed a $5m deal to open 26 Hawes & Curtis stores across the Gulf over the next five years. Hawes & Curtis, a British shirt specialist based in London’s Jermyn Street, is owned by entrepreneur Touker Suleyman. According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, the shirtmaker will open its... Continue Reading →

High-end stores including Alexander McQueen, Jimmy Choo, Bulgari and Emporio Armani will be launching on September 4 after Abu Dhabi's first exclusively luxury shopping mall on Al Maryah Island opens this month. Al Tayer Group, the company that owns the franchise to dozens of luxury brands in the UAE, said it would be launching 15... Continue Reading →

Atterbury has announced it is developing the 120,000sqm Mall of Africa, for R3.5 billion – South Africa’s largest single-phase shopping mall development to date – financed by Nedbank Corporate Property Finance. The new super-regional Mall of Africa will be the heart of the ambitious Waterfall, a city superbly situated between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and developed... Continue Reading →

Musgrave has announced all 24 Superquinn stores will change to SuperValu by February 2014 Musgrave has announced today that it will be changing the name of its Superquinn stores to SuperValu from February 2014. The move will mean the 24 Superquinn stores will become SuperValu over the next 18 months. 102 jobs at the Superquinn... Continue Reading →

Waltons Music is to open a 7,500sq ft superstore in the Blanchardstown Centre, creating about 10 jobs. Discount retailer Dealz yesterday opened its 27th Irish shop, creating 24 jobs in the north Dublin suburb of Finglas. Located in the Finglas Village Centre, the shop brings the number of jobs created by the firm in Ireland... Continue Reading →

SEATTLE -- Amazon's grocery service might be making its way to New York next year, according to published reports. Citing analysis from SunTrust analyst Robert Peck, EcommerceBytes.com reported that the Seattle-based online retailer may start offering Amazon Fresh in New York in 2014, based on his finding that the company had expanded into a New... Continue Reading →

Geant says UAE's first online grocery store launched French retail chain Géant has launched what it says is the UAE's first online hypermarket. It said Géant Online offered the opportunity to purchase both grocery items and consumer electronics via computer and mobile devices. Géant Online becomes the latest addition to the company's portfolio of brands... Continue Reading →