LONDON (Reuters) - IKEA Group plans to trial a new small-format store in Britain as it seeks to extend its reach across the country, the world's largest furniture retailer said on Wednesday. The privately owned Swedish company, known for its flat-pack, self-assembly furniture, intends to trial "order and collection points", starting in Norwich, eastern England,... Continue Reading →
This week Superdrug filed accounts at Companies House for the 52 weeks ended 27 December 2014. The accounts show an operating profit for 2014 of £38.2m, up on the £25.8m operating profit of 2013, and the operating loss of £6.4m in 2012. A key focus area for the business was health, which saw... Continue Reading →
Dutch-based supermarkets operator Ahold has reached a deal to buy Belgian peer Delhaize, the companies announced today, in a move that will create one of the largest supermarket players in the US. In a joint statement, the two companies said Ahold would have a 61% stake in the new company, which will have $60.6bn in... Continue Reading →
Less than a day after Taylor Swift called Apple's decision not to pay musicians any royalties during its three-month free trial period of Apple Music "shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company" on Tumblr, the company has changed its position. Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue announced on Twitter that the... Continue Reading →
John Lewis is expanding its in-store food experiences by developing further partnerships with Joe & The Juice and Rossopomodoro, introducing 10 further restaurants across its shops within the next year. As well as the permanent sites, the two brands will have pop-up outlets at John Lewis’s Summer Retreat on the rooftop of its flagship... Continue Reading →
The sale of shares in Irish service station operator Applegreen has raised €91.7 million in an initial public offering (IPO). Shares in Applegreen began trading on Friday in a move which has snared €70 million for the company and €21.7 million for its selling shareholders, The Irish Times reports. Approximately 24.1 million ordinary shares... Continue Reading →
Seattle – Starbucks Corp. is getting out of the freestanding bakery store brand business. The coffee giant said it plans to close all 23 La Boulange retail (bakery café) locations by the end of September, as well as the two baking facilities serving the locations. The retailer said it determined that La Boulange stores... Continue Reading →
A Co-operative Pharmacy branch in Nantwich is the first to be closed as part of Well's five-year strategy. Well said it was investing in its pharmacies near to the branch on Nantwich High Street. Well’s five-year strategy will involve “occasional closures” of Co-operative pharmacies, the business has said as it announced it would shut a... Continue Reading →
Abercrombie & Fitch has named former Lucky magazine creative director Katia Kuethe to be the retailer's creative director of marketing. Kuethe also spent time at Kate Spade as senior director of creative. The hire rounds out a newly emerging creative team at the retailer, including former Club Monaco men's designer Aaron Levine, former Club Monaco... Continue Reading →
Burberry has expanded its global flagship store in London’s Regent Street to include an area dedicated to gifting. The new space also accommodates an all-day café that offers an entirely British menu. The gifting area houses a seasonally updated collection of gifts, together with an assortment of homewares including throws, blankets, cushion covers, candles... Continue Reading →
Woonsocket, R.I., and Minneapolis — Target plans to sell its pharmacy business to CVS Health for $1.9 billion and rebrand its nearly 1,700 prescription departments as CVS/pharmacy in a blockbuster deal that stunned the healthcare world. In addition to the pharmacies, CVS Health also will acquire Target’s 80 clinic locations and rebrand them as... Continue Reading →
More than 80,000 shops face closure by 2017 unless the Government drastically overhauls the business rates tax system, the retail industry has warned in a comprehensive study of the controversial tax. The doomsday scenario could effect as many as 800,000 workers and decimate high streets across the country already struggling with seismic changes in shopping... Continue Reading →
Hudson’s Bay Company announced this morning it will acquire Galeria Holding, parent of the Kaufhof chain of department stores in Germany and Belgium. The deal, worth $2,68 billion (Cdn.) is expected to close by the end of the third fiscal quarter. Kaufhof has 103 Galeria Kaufhof locations and 16 Sportarena stores. Kaufhof also operates Belgium’s... Continue Reading →
Gap is downsizing its staff and stores. In a statement on Monday, the company said it will close 175 specialty stores in North America "over the next few years." It will shut down as many as 140 stores this fiscal year. It will cut about 250 jobs from its headquarter workforce during this fiscal... Continue Reading →
Swedish clothing brand H&M will be the next international label to open at Sandton City. Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is known for its fast fashion for men, women, teenagers and children... Founded in 1947 in Västerås, Sweden, H&M is now the second-largest global clothing retailer (behind Spanish company Inditex, parent company of Zara), with more... Continue Reading →
10 amazing projects coming up in DubaiMajority of these attractions are set for completion before Dubai hosts Expo 2020 Work has already commenced on major tourist and leisure attractions across Dubai with developers continuing to announce new destinations. The latest announcement is of the Dh10-billion Al Mamzar Beachfront project, with a possible unveiling of a... Continue Reading →
At the Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Apple confirmed it. From July, Brits will be able to use Apple Pay to buy goods from retailers including Marks & Spencer, Dune, Lidl, Starbucks, Ocado, Pret, Boots, JD Sports, New Look, Liberty, Waitrose, Spar and Costa. Available across 250,000 locations, and supported by over 70% of the... Continue Reading →
Thinking that movie nights and pizza are a natural fit, Pizza Hut created a new cardboard pizza box that turns into a working movie projector powered by your smartphone. It's called the "Blockbuster Box," and it was designed by Ogilvy Hong Kong for a Pizza Hut marketing stunt, according to The Verge. The secret to... Continue Reading →
The biggest four online shopping markets in the world will double in size over the next three years as consumers buy increasing amounts of goods through the internet. Online sales in the UK, US, Germany and China will grow by £320bn between now and 2018, expanding the size of the online market to £645bn, according... Continue Reading →
You can finally buy H&M clothes without a plane ticket or a friend bringing them back from London. Despite living at the tip of Africa, we are still able to look internationally fabulous, not just thanks to our wonderful local designers, but also since big brands are being imported and available for our shopping pleasure.... Continue Reading →
Rob Walton steps down Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores announced that board chairman Rob Walton is stepping down and will be succeeded by vice chairman Greg Penner, who is Walton's son-in-law. Walton relinquished the position of chairman at the company's annual meeting on June 5. The move to elevate Penner to the new role didn’t... Continue Reading →
Sportswear tycoon Mike Ashley has launched a new discount store in an attempt to gobble up a bigger share of the UK high street. The plan has been coined ‘Son of Woolworths’ and opened just days ago, according to The Mail on Sunday. This is Ashley’s first foray into a market outside the sports and... Continue Reading →
Swedish furniture giant IKEA plans to expand the area of two shopping centers it operates in the Moscow region nearly 30 percent by 2018 thanks to high tenant demand, newspaper Kommersant reported Friday, citing an IKEA executive. "We are already holding talks with the Moscow and Moscow region governors' administrations in order to expand [the... Continue Reading →
The innovative 'zero energy' Costa Coffee shop at the Wrekin Retail Park in Telford A record number of companies are set to make the switch to solar power in 2015 according to a Solihull firm which helped create the country’s first ‘zero energy’ coffee shop. Independent builders’ merchant EH Smith has supplied solar roof... Continue Reading →
H&M to open its first India store at Delhi around September Bengaluru: Swedish fashion retailer Hennes and Mauritz AB (H&M) will open its first flagship store in India at a Delhi mall by September, the retailer said in a media statement on Wednesday morning. The news comes with the appointment of country manager for H&M... Continue Reading →
KKR & Co and Dubai-based Fajr Capital are close to buying a 25 percent stake in fashion retailer Azadea Group, said three sources aware of the matter, in what would be the US private equity firm's first Middle Eastern investment. Based in Lebanon but with operations across the wider Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and... Continue Reading →
Mr Price to open Australian stores THE Mr Price Group is set to open its first physical stores in Australia later this year selling Mr Price clothing and home products, and this time market commentators are more optimistic about a South African retailer succeeding Down Under. CEO Stuart Bird made the announcement on Tuesday with... Continue Reading →
US sports shoe company will invest up to $30 million opening new stores across the GCC by 2018, according to the company president. Michael Greenberg, president of California-based Skechers, told Gulf News that the company will open an addition 142 stores in region, bringing the total of 180, in an expansion plan that will... Continue Reading →
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