All articles by Planet Retail – Page 47
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Reliance Retail appoints two ex-Walmart executives
Reliance Retail has appointed two ex-Walmart executives to run its operations in the country, according to local press. Reliance has named former Walmart China chief operating officer Rob Cissell as the chief executive, and former vice-president of store operations Shawn Gray as chief operating officer, said company officials.The newly appointed ...
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Gap to open stores in Africa
US clothing retailer Gap said it will open its first stores in Africa this year, with its first Gap store opening in Egypt next month and its first Banana Republic and Gap stores in Morocco in October. The company began shipping products to Egypt, Morocco and South Africa last year, ...
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Carrefour and Pixmania sign strategic agreement
Carrefour and Dixons Retail-owned Pixmania in France have signed a strategic agreement in the non-food product segment. Under the agreement, Pixmania will develop and deliver a multichannel website in a number of European countries for Carrefour’s non-food offer.Pixmania will also support a marketplace platform for Carrefour customers to access a ...
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Kroger to concentrate on existing markets
David Dillon, chief executive of US grocer Kroger, has said the retailer will concentrate its efforts on pushing sales at existing stores, rather than seek to enter new markets or make acquisitions. Speaking at the company’s AGM, Dillon said even though several small chains had been snapped up in recent ...
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Metro Group prepares for sale of hypermarket chain Real
Metro Group is said to be preparing for the sale of its hypermarket chain Real, which has been completely refurbished, with underperforming hypermarkets closed and costs reduced. Sale talks with financial investors are currently underway.Nothing concrete is in place yet, as Metro - which is looking to sell the chain ...
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Carrefour increases stakes in China
Carrefour has agreed to increase its majority stakes in three hypermarket operators in China, the retailer said in a statement. Carrefour will buy out Taiwan-based partner President’s 20% holding in Guangzhou and 45% stake in Tianjin Jiafu.It will also increase its holding in Chongqing to 65% from 55%.
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Rite Aid reports level revenue
Rite Aid has reported revenues of $6.4bn (£4.01bn) for the first quarter ended May 28, unchanged on the figure for last year’s first quarter.Like-for-like sales increased 0.8% as front-end like-for-likes were flat and pharmacy like-for-likes rose 1.1%.Net losses were $63.1m (£39.6bn) compared with last year’s first quarter net loss of ...
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French competition authorities approve Saturn's 34 acquisitiion
The acquisition of Metro Group-controlled Saturn’s 34 Saturn consumer electronics stores in France has been approved by the French competition authorities with conditions. The chain is to be sold to HTM Group, the operator of the Boulanger banner, and is due to take effect today.HTM will take over existing staff, ...
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Walmart to launch new store format
Walmart is to launch a new store format called Urban 90 in east Toronto in January 2012. Walmart Canada’s president and chief executive David Cheesewright said the initial urban store would be on a 4.5 acre site, roughly half the size of a typical Walmart site. Walmart also announced it ...
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Lawson to expand product range
Convenience store operator Lawson plans to expand the product range sold at its convenience stores and radically reform its business model to resemble that of the Uniqlo clothing chain. Under its new growth strategy, Lawson will increase the number of stores selling fresh produce.While the company has been pushing this ...
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Discounter Lidl plans store expansion
Schwarz Group-owned discounter Lidl has plans to open stores not only in Lithuania’s five biggest cities, but also in every town with more than 20,000 inhabitants. Marius Kybartas, expansion director at Lidl’s Lithuanian subsidiary, said that Lidl is planning to build and open discount stores all over the country, adding ...
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Massmart to focus on integration with Walmart
Massmart has said that it is focused on integration with Walmart now that the deal has been approved, particularly in terms of governance, procurement processes and sharing best practice. Massmart chief executive Grant Pattison said the company is first and foremost putting in place measures to implement the conditions the ...
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Whole Foods Market sets sight on store growth
Whole Foods Market sees the potential to more than triple its number of US stores, co-chief executive Walter Robb has said. Robb feels Whole Foods can grow its domestic store base from about 300 currently to 1,000 in the longer term.In Canada, the retailer is also looking to ramp up ...
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US Supreme Court throws out major suit
The US Supreme Court has thrown out a major employment discrimination class-action suit against Walmart that sought billions of dollars on behalf of about 1.5 million female workers. It signalled it wanted job bias disputes handled in the workplace and not the courts. The court did not decide whether Walmart ...
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Pick n Pay to face competition from Walmart
Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman has said the grocery retailer is ready to face competition from Walmart once it enters South Africa. “We have modified our business to deal with the challenges,” he said.After exiting Australia, Ackerman confirmed that Pick n Pay will now focus expansion exclusively on markets ...
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Maruzen CHI Holdings records loss
Bookstore operator Maruzen CHI Holdings recorded a loss for the first quarter ended April 30, in the aftermath of the recent Japanese disasters.The retailer said that although book sales were strong during the period, overall financial performance was affected by the Tohoku earthquake.The company recorded a net loss of ¥439m ...
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French retailer Casino raises its stake in Brazil's largest retailer
French retailer Casino has raised its stake in Brazil’s largest retailer Companhia Brasileira de Distribuiçao to 37% after buying 3.3% of the company’s shares on the market. Companhia Brasileira de Distribuiçao is jointly controlled by Casino and the Diniz family through a 50:50 joint venture holding company called Wilkes. A ...