All articles by Planet Retail – Page 31
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Pantaloon Retail to leave joint venture with Staples
Future Group-owned Pantaloon Retail in India plans to leave its joint venture with office retailer Staples by June.The change is part of the group’s strategy to raise funds and focus on core retail operations. The joint venture agreement with Staples, signed in 2007, gives the US-based retailer an option to ...
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Metro targets independent retailers
Metro’s Cash and Carry chain is targeting independent retailers with a new format in Romania.The retailer has launched a new franchise programme for a convenience store format under the brand La doi pasi, which translates as ‘two steps’.So far, 200 stores have joined the franchise programme, with 80 already operational ...
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Harvey Norman reviews online trade expectations
Electronics retailer Harvey Norman is lowering expectations of its online trade just months after launching its first mainstream consumer ecommerce website.The plan had been to generate 5% of sales online but chief executive Gerry Harvey said the company’s recent internet trading figures had not been impressive.The retailer now believes it ...
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Mercadona considers international expansion
Spanish grocer Mercadona could be about to start international expansion, beginning with Italy. The retailer is said to be negotiating the acquisition of a small chain in northern Italy of 30 to 40 stores.If successful, the deal will be announced this month. Mercadona started looking at a number of potential ...
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Schlecker to cut domestic store network
Struggling drugstore business Schlecker intends to cut its domestic store network from 5,410 to 3,000 shops, according to insolvency administrator Arndt Geiwitz.The retailer said it would discuss plans with its employees and their representatives before announcing which stores would be closed. It also intends to slash its logistics network from ...
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Metro Group to expand in China
Metro Group’s cash and carry operation in China plans to open at least 10 stores during 2012.Metro China is also piloting a trader support solutions programme to provide customised service tools to local independent small and medium-sized traders.Based on the pilot launched in Shanghai in 2011, Metro is testing the ...
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Neiman Marcus tests new iPhone app
Luxury department store operator Neiman Marcus is testing a new iPhone app to help enhance the relationship between staff and shoppers.Users can find out which sales associates are on duty at a store. Likewise, when a customer checks in to a particular store, sales associates are notified and can access ...
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Grocery retailer Ahold to expand
Grocery retailer Ahold is to expand its AH To Go convenience store banner.According to chief executive Dick Boer, growth of its core banner – Albert Heijn supermarkets – is limited due to its established large market share. Therefore, the retailer plans to open more convenience stores at train and petrol ...
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Gap to focus on ecommerce operations
Gap will focus on ecommerce, m-commerce and its international operations to drive growth in 2012. With direct (ecommerce) and international divisions together representing 26% of the fashion retailer’s total net sales, Gap plans to invest in ecommerce and m-commerce and develop a global IT platform to support its international operations.While ...
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Sears plans to divest two fascias
Sears plans to divest its two fascias, Sears Hometown and Sears Outlet, along with a number of hardware outlets. The creation of this new company will allow these two banners to focus on strategies that best meet the needs of smaller stores. The division will also boost Sears’ liquid assets ...
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Barnes & Noble introduces new Nook tablet PC
Bookseller Barnes & Noble has introduced a new version of its Nook tablet PC, priced at $199 to match Amazon’s Kindle Fire. The new Nook Tablet has 8GB of built-in memory against 16GB for the full-priced $249 version, which will continue to be offered. Barnes & Noble said it has ...
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Macy’s to tweak online model
Department store group Macy’s plans to tweak its online model.The Macy’s ‘Store to Door’ pilot, a service enabling shipment to the customer’s home from another store if one shop is out of a product, is to expand from 23 to 290 of the retailer’s 810 stores this year.However, items will ...
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Casino plans to keep stake in Monoprix
Casino has said it is not planning to sell its 50% stake in variety store Monoprix – a joint venture between the retailer and Galeries Lafayette – which it considers a strategic asset.The grocer said that if department store chain partner Galeries Lafayette wanted to sell its 50% interest in ...
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Amazon pulls Kindle ebooks from online offering
Amazon has pulled 5,000 Kindle ebooks from its online offering after a dispute with the Independent Publishers Group. The decision has fuelled concerns over Amazon’s increasing market dominance in the publishing sector and the pricing of ebooks, which until now have been set by publishers.Mark Suchomel, president of the Independent ...
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Loblaw reports sales increase
Loblaw’s sales in the full year ended December 31, 2011 rose 1.3% to C$31.3bn (£19.69bn) and like-for-like sales edged up 0.9%.In the fourth quarter, the grocery and general merchandise retailer reported that sales of food and clothing were strong while drugstore sales remained flat. Sales growth in general merchandise, excluding ...
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Target posts net earnings growth
Target has posted net earnings of $2.93bn (£1.85bn) for its full year and $981m (£619.3m) for the fourth quarter. Target chairman, president and chief executive Gregg Steinhafel, said: “Target generated strong financial performance in 2011, overcoming sluggish economic growth, restrained consumer spending and an intensely promotional holiday season. For the ...
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Blockbuster unveils year end results
Blockbuster has unveiled its results for the year to December 31, 2011 confirming it plans to close 500 underperforming rental stores during the first half of 2012. This number accounts for about one-third of the retailer’s US store portfolio.Blockbuster’s new parent company Dish Network reported an 11% increase in net ...
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Nordstrom posts net profit increase
Department store group Nordstrom posted a 1.7% increase in net profit to $236m (£147m) for its fourth quarter ended January 28. Net sales rose 12.5% to $3.17bin (£1.97bn) and rose 7.1% on a like-for-like basis. Online sales soared 35% during the quarter.Top-performing categories included handbags, designer and cosmetics. For the ...
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Casino launches Cvous.com
Casino has launched Cvous.com, a community website dedicated to consumers who want to “share ideas on products and services offered in stores”. Users are able to voice their opinions on products and vote for their favourite items. The products that are highlighted will be then promoted in stores and participants ...
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Amazon subsidiary to launch Casa.com
Amazon’s Quidsi subsidiary, acquired in 2011, is to launch a new homewares site, Casa.com. The site will offer more than 35,000 products in categories including kitchen, home decor, bedroom and bathroom and complement existing portals, which include Diapers.com, Soap.com, BeautyBar.com, Wag.com and YoYo.com. Quidsi is also expected to introduce a ...