All articles by Planet Retail – Page 42
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Woolworths confirms expansion plans
South African retailer Woolworths has confirmed it plans to expand its presence in Sub-Saharan Africa by more than doubling its store numbers on the continent. The move comes in response to Walmart’s African market entry in June.Woolworths spokesman John Fraser said: “We are now getting very serious about Africa expansion ...
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Amazon to launch pure-play ecommerce services
Amazon is expected to launch its pure-play ecommerce services in Spain by the end of this year. Several Spanish publishers have already signed distribution agreements with the internet retailer, but it is likely that Kindle ebooks will be introduced at a later date.Amazon.es is expected to launch with an offering ...
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DIY retailer Leroy Merlin to enter Romanian market
French DIY retailer Leroy Merlin is set to enter the Romanian market with the opening of a 183,000 sq ft store in Bucharest this month.The company has reportedly invested e6m (£5.1m) in the store, which will employ 250 staff and be managed by a team of French and Romanian staff.Leroy ...
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Gap opens first franchised Banana Republic store in Russia
Clothing retailer Gap has opened its first franchised Banana Republic store in Russia, in AfiMall City, Moscow.Gap began offering its Gap and Banana Republic products online to Russian consumers through its international online shipping provider in 2010.Fiba Holding will manage the store under Gap’s existing franchise agreement.
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Fast Retailing plans Asian expansion
Fast Retailing plans to open more than 100 Uniqlo stores in Asian countries outside of Japan in the year ending August 2012. This would represent twice as many openings than in the previous fiscal year. The retailer operates approximately 160 Uniqlo stores in the region, mainly in China and South ...
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Albert Heijn launches mobile payment pilot
Albert Heijn has launched a mobile payment pilot in co-operation with Rabobank at its AH To Go outlet in the World Trade Centre, Amsterdam.Payments are triggered by scanning a barcode from a decal attached to the shopper’s phone. The system is based on Rabobank’s mobile wallet MiniTix. Customers who want ...
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Carrefour announces plans to operate 46 drive-in stores
Grocery giant Carrefour has announced plans to operate 46 drive-in stores in France by the end of the year, following the opening of its second drive-in store last week.Customers order their groceries online, then drive to the stores and collect the items, which have all been packed beforehand.The retailer announced ...
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Uniqlo to open its largest global flagship store
Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo, owned by Fast Retailing, is to open its largest global flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York on October 14. This will be followed one week later by a similar store on 34th Street, New York on October 21. The retailer opened its first global ...
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Dollar General launches ecommerce site
Discount retailer Dollar General has launched an ecommerce site to allow it to reach customers outside its 35-state market. It offers both brand name and private label merchandise, including health and beauty products, cleaning supplies, baby items, toys, holiday merchandise, home decor, stationery and snacks. The site also has online-exclusive ...
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Jim Sinegal to step down from chief executive role at Costco
Warehouse club operator Costco revealed that Jim Sinegal will step down from his role as chief executive on January 1, 2012. He founded the company with Jeff Brotman, currently chairman of the board, in 1983. Sinegal will be succeeded by Craig Jelinek, who at present serves as president and chief ...
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Cencosud launches virtual shopping system
Cencosud has launched Jumbo Mobile, a virtual shopping system located in Santiago’s underground rail network. The initiative will allow underground passengers to access more than 100 items via virtual shopping aisles by scanning in the QR codes using their mobile phones. The system will initially be available at the Escuela ...
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Pick n Pay to invest in Sub-Saharan operations
Grocery retailer Pick n Pay has confirmed it will use the Aus$215m (£141m) generated from the sale of Franklins in Australia to invest in its Sub-Saharan operations. The retailer will focus on growth, customer loyalty and improved distribution. The confirmation comes two months after Walmart’s entry into South Africa, which ...
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Reliance Footprint plans store expansion
Reliance Footprint is planning to double its number of footwear stores in the next six months. The company’s chief executive Gopalakrishnan Sankar said: “We are present in 37 cities across 15 states and want to expand our business to Tier II cities in the coming years. The company has taken ...
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Joint venture between Woolworths and Lowe’s opens
Woolworths and US DIY retailer Lowe’s have opened their first store in Melbourne, Australia. The joint venture is a 145,315 sq ft hardware warehouse, and is the result of three years of planning. The store represents Lowe’s first foray outside North America and is the first joint venture of this ...
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Auchan posts consolidated revenue increase
Auchan has posted a 5.8% increase in consolidated revenue, excluding fuel, to E21.2bn (£18.6bn) for the first half of 2011. Like-for-like sales were up 1.3%. Revenue trends varied, however, by country. In France Auchan delivered a revenue increase of 3.3%. Sales from the retailer’s other Western European markets fell 0.8%. ...
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Intermarché launches new marketing campaign
Independent grocery chain Intermarché has launched a marketing campaign that offers to refund the price difference on 250 brands if customers find them cheaper at rival stores. The campaign began at the end of August in time for the back-to-school and back-to-work period in France, and will run for a ...
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Canadian Blockbuster closes its remaining stores
Blockbuster in Canada, which went into receivership in May, is to shut down all its remaining stores after failing to find a suitable purchaser. This follows the disposal of 140 stores earlier in the year. Blockbuster is now winding down the video store’s operations and closing the remaining 253 stores.
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Nordstrom to invest £229m in technology
Nordstrom will spend $375m (£229m) or 15% of its planned capital expenditure on improving its technology up to 2016. The money will be primarily used for ecommerce. Chief financial officer Michael Koppel said: “Unlike investments in store expansion, investments to improve ecommerce tend to impact the profit and loss numbers ...
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Nakumatt outlines expansion plans
Kenyan market leader Nakumatt has announced plans to expand into wider Sub-Saharan countries within the next five years. Managing director Atul Shah said: “We have now embarked on a feasibility study to facilitate our entry to such countries as Burundi, Zambia, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Botswana and ...
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Woolworths predicts tough future
Woolworths has released its full-year financial results and sees tough times ahead despite gains during the year. In the year up to June 26, net sales increased 4.7% including petrol (4.1% excluding petrol) to Aus$54.14bn (£34.62bn). Net profit rose 5.1% to Aus$2.12bn (£1.36bn) up from the previous year’s Aus$2.02bn (£1.29bn).However, ...