All articles by Planet Retail – Page 16
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News
Staples unveils plans to accelerate growth
Staples has unveiled plans to serve customers better and accelerate growth. The retailer will expand beyond office supplies and improve its multichannel provision by merging its US Retail and Staples.com divisions.Staples plans to close 30 stores and downsize 30, a reduction in square footage in North America of 15%, by ...
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Woolworths sells its Dick Smith electronics chain
Woolworths has sold its Dick Smith electronics chain in Australia and its Indian wholesale venture for a combined AU$55m (£35.4m).Private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners was the winning bidder, paying an initial AU$20m (£12.9m).Additionally, Woolworths will sell Woolworths Wholesale to Infiniti Retail – part of India’s Tata Group – for ...
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Matahari to divest non-core assets
Matahari has won approval from shareholders for plans to divest non-core assets worth IDR3.2tn (£207m) to create a more efficient capital structure.The retailer will offload non-core assets, such as Timezone, Times Bookstores, its restaurant and property businesses, by selling its wholly owned subsidiaries PT Matahari Pacific and PT Nadya Putra ...
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Andrew Reitzer to retire from Metcash
Metcash has revealed that Andrew Reitzer will retire as chief executive next year on June 30. His retirement does not come as a surprise, as he had announced in 2010 that he would step down within three years.Reitzer will stay on as a consultant for Metcash for another three years ...
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Leclerc latest store to feature new logo
Leclerc is to open a hypermarket in Le Breuil next week that will feature a new logo. Leclerc will be written in lowercase and the logo will be on a white background instead of blue.The retailer’s new look won’t come into effect in other stores until November 1.
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Dia to take over troubled German drugstore chain Schlecker
Dia is taking over the Spanish division of troubled German drugstore chain Schlecker for e70.5m (£55.9m). The deal includes 1,127 outlets in Spain and 41 stores in Portugal, as well as four distribution centres, three in Spain and one in Portugal. Dia will also retain the 4,000 former Schlecker employees.The ...
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Uniqlo opens joint store concept with Bic Camera
Uniqlo and electronics retailer Bic Camera have opened their first joint ‘Bicqlo’ store in Tokyo.Uniqlo president Tadashi Yanai said he wanted to create Japan’s most prosperous store by combining Bic Camera’s busy shop ambience with that of Uniqlo.Yanai hopes to open similar stores in New York and Paris.
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Amazon to recommence selling wine
Amazon intends to start selling wine again after it abandoned previous plans to enter the wine market three years ago.Meanwhile, Amazon’s Quidsi subsidiary in the US has unveiled an ecommerce site offering natural, organic and sustainably made products. Vine.com sells products ranging from skincare to ambient grocery, furnishings and electronics. ...
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Construction begins on The Mall of San Juan
Construction has begun on a new luxury mall that will bring Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue to the US territory for the first time.The Mall of San Juan is being built near the main international airport and represents a $405m (£250m) private investment.
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Best Buy develops location-based shopping app
Electronics retailer Best Buy has developed a location-based shopping app with eBay-owned RedLaser.Best Buy is the first retailer to ‘geo-fence’ its locations, enabling shoppers to see special offers, browse open-stock items and view products relevant to them when they walk into a store.Online Best Buy shoppers can also research and ...
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Walgreens to close 76 USA Drug-affiliated stores
Walgreens is to close its 76 USA Drug-affiliated stores by November as part of its acquisition of LaFrance Pharmacy.The closures will be in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. The programme comes after Walgreens announced the $438m (£269.9m) LaFrance acquisition in July.Walgreens spokesman Jim Graham said: “Our decisions about store closures are ...
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RadioShack ventures into Malaysia
US-based electronics retailer RadioShack has ventured into Malaysia for its first two locations in Southeast Asia.The Kuala Lumpur stores will be operated by master franchise holder Berjaya RS, a subsidiary of Malaysian retailing specialist Berjaya Retail Berhad.RadioShack wants at least 1,000 franchise stores across Southeast Asia.Berjaya plans to open three ...
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Gap to open four Gap Outlet stores in China
The first shop was due to open on September 22 in Ningbo, followed by two in Shanghai and Tianjin.A fourth store is expected to open later this year at the Scitech Premium Outlet Mall in Beijing.Gap China president Redmond Yeung said: “As we continue to execute our expansion strategy in ...
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Carrefour launches new loyalty programme
Carrefour in Poland’s new loyalty card Rodzinka (Family) now provides shoppers with a PLN10 (£1.92) e-voucher for every 600 points collected in stores.The retailer claims that unlike other loyalty schemes, cardholders can exchange points for e-vouchers directly at the checkout, saving time and providing customer value.The new loyalty programme relates ...
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ICA opens ‘ICA to go’ pilot
Ahold-affiliated Swedish grocery retailer ICA has opened an ‘ICA to go’ pilot store in a metro station in Hornstull. The retailer will also shut the first pilot store it tested.ICA business development manager Mats Munther said: “We mainly operated the store in order to test our offering. We have learned ...
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Walmart launches health food programme
Walmart has launched a health food programme with HumanaVitality, a subsidiary of the Humana healthcare company.The Vitality HealthyFood scheme offers members an incentive to purchase healthier foods by offering a 5% discount on items awarded Walmart’s ‘Great For You’ symbol.The scheme is due to begin on October 15.Shoppers can join ...
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Netto Marken-Discount considers credit card payment trial
Edeka-owned discounter Netto Marken-Discount could launch a trial to accept credit card payments at a number of stores later this year.If successful, the pilot will be rolled out to about 200 stops in the mid-term and eventually all 4,000 stores nationwide, and Netto would be the first German grocer to ...
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Otto Group to restructure Otto, Baur and Schwab banners
Otto will increase its offering for young women, stocking a wider range of brands and Otto Group private-label products. Baur will focus on customers with more conservative values, while Schwab’s plus-size Sheego banner will be developed further. Otto Group also wants to increase synergies between its banners, and back-office functions ...
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Casino develops new store model for Naturalia
Casino is developing a new model for its organic products banner Naturalia. A new Paris store will feature enhanced signage with detailed explanations of displays for customers unfamiliar with organic food. The store will be traditional in appearance, with recycled wooden pallets and gravel-look flooring. The design will be applied ...
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Ritz Camera wins court permission to liquidate business
Specialist retailer Ritz Camera has won court permission to liquidate the business after failing to find a buyer. In 2009 the retailer’s founding family bought it out of bankruptcy but has since failed to turn the retailer around.Earlier this month an auction was held with the aim of either selling ...