All articles by Planet Retail – Page 57

  • News

    Fnac to expand into Northern Africa and South America to move sales away from France

    2010-11-11T12:36:00Z

    PPR-owned electronics retailer Fnac aims to generate half of its sales outside of France by 2015 as it expands in Northern Africa and South America. Chief executive Christophe Cuvillier said: “We’re looking to expand in other countries. The priority internationally is to grow where we already are.”Fnac will open its ...

  • News

    Whole Foods Market like-for-likes increase 7.1%

    2010-11-11T12:30:00Z

    Grocery retailer Whole Foods Market has reported sales for the full year ended September 26 increased 12% to $9bn (£5.56bn), with like-for-likes increasing 7.1%. EBITDA increased 29% to $713.6m (£440.9m). These results included Federal Trade Commission-related legal costs of $2.5m, compared with $14.7m in the prior year and a gain ...

  • News

    Distribución y Servicio (D&S) to change its name to Walmart Chile

    2010-11-11T12:25:00Z

    Grocery retailer Distribución y Servicio (D&S) is to change its legal name to Walmart Chile. The move will have to be ratified at the next company shareholder meeting, which will take place in late November. The decision will not affect the fascias that the retailer operates such as Líder, Ekono ...

  • News

    H&M opens first store in Turkey

    2010-11-11T12:22:00Z

    Swedish fashion retailer H&M has opened its first store in Turkey, in the country’s capital, Istanbul. The 24,760 sq ft store is located in the Forum Istanbul shopping centre and the retailer will continue its expansion in the country by opening the second H&M store in Istinye Park in December ...

  • News

    Pantaloon Retail to add 15m sq ft of retail space by 2014

    2010-11-11T12:12:00Z

    India-based Pantaloon Retail has announced plans to invest INR2,100 crore (£280.1m) over the next three years on expansion. Speaking to investors at the company’s AGM, chief executive Kishore Biyani said that the funds would be used to add 15 million sq ft of retail space by 2014. “The funds will ...

  • News

    Walmart submits bid for Matahari hypermarkets

    2010-11-11T12:06:00Z

    Walmart has reportedly submitted a bid for Indonesian retailer Matahari’s hypermart stores, joining regional competitor Lotte Shopping and private equity firm Carlyle Group.Although it is unclear whether Walmart has formally bid for the business, Reuters reports that the retailer has hired Barclays Capital to advise on the transaction, which could ...

  • News

    Metro to add smaller stores in Asia

    2010-11-11T12:03:00Z

    Metro Group-owned Metro plans to add more city centre cash and carry outlets in Asia. The centrally located stores will be smaller, with only about a third of the floor space of its suburban stores. Metro Group is expanding in Asia to become less reliant on its domestic German market ...

  • News

    Amazon to launch home delivery service for food and drink in Japan

    2010-11-11T11:59:00Z

    Amazon will start a regular home delivery service for food and beverage items in Japan by the end of the year. Amazon.co.jp will begin by delivering just baby food but is expected to expand the service to beverages and processed foods next year.Amazon expects the service will initially be used ...

  • News

    Bath & Body Works launches in Dubai and Kuwait

    2010-11-04T14:59:00Z

    Limited Brands’ Bath & Body Works is launching in the Middle East with the opening of six stores in Dubai and Kuwait. It already has La Senza lingerie stores located in the countries, but the new stores will mark Bath & Body Works’ first entry into markets outside of the ...

  • News

    Lidl launches in Cyprus

    2010-11-04T14:58:00Z

    Schwarz Group’s discounter Lidl launched in the Cypriot market this week, opening its first seven stores simultaneously. Following the opening, the discount retailer’s goal is to “eventually fully cover the geographical area of Cyprus in order to be able to serve even more residents”, the company said. The first stores ...

  • News

    A&P launches international foods private-label range

    2010-11-04T14:56:00Z

    Tengelmann-controlled A&P is launching a new private-label range of international foods. Named The Food Emporium Trading Company - after one of A&P’s store banners - the range will be sold at the eponymous stores in addition to the A&P, SuperFresh and Waldbaum’s banners.

  • News

    OfficeMax Q3 sales drop 1% to £1.2bn

    2010-11-04T14:48:00Z

    OfficeMax reported total company sales for the third quarter ended September 25 decreased 1% to $1.81bn (£1.2bn). However, pre-tax profit was $33m (£21m), compared with $17m (£11m) in the third quarter of 2009. For the full year, OfficeMax said it expected total company sales to be slightly lower than fiscal ...

  • News

    Sephora Americas to enter Mexico through JV with Grupo Axo

    2010-11-04T14:46:00Z

    LVMH-owned perfumery Sephora Americas has signed a joint venture agreement with Grupo Axo to establish a retail presence in Mexico. The two partners will begin operations with two store openings in the second half of 2011 and significant additional store openings targeted each year thereafter.This joint venture further signifies Sephora’s ...

  • News

    Shoppers Stop Q2 turnover increases 23%

    2010-11-04T14:44:00Z

    Shoppers Stop reported a 23% jump in turnover for its second quarter ended September 30. Turnover reached INR509 crore (£7.1m) compared with INR412 crore (£5.7m) for the prior-year period. Net profit soared 44% to INR17.4 crore (£243,855) against INR12.1 crore (£169,550) the previous year. “The surge in consumer confidence has ...

  • News

    Lawson to acquire HMV Japan for £14m

    2010-11-04T00:00:00Z

    Convenience store retailer Lawson is to acquire music and video retailer HMV Japan on December 1 for ¥1.8bn (£14m). All of HMV Japan’s shares will be purchased from Daiwa Securities SMBC Principal Investments Co. HMV Japan runs 37 stores in Japan. Lawson hopes that the acquisition will help boost its ...

  • News

    Woolworths to open 10 big-box home improvement stores in Victoria

    2010-11-04T00:00:00Z

    Woolworths is to open 10 big-box home improvement stores over the next 12 months in Victoria in a bid to expand its DIY store presence. Nine of the stores will open in the Greater Melbourne area. The chain has become involved in the hardware retailing business through a joint venture ...

  • News

    Lotte Shopping Q3 sales up 23.1% to £1.9bn

    2010-11-04T00:00:00Z

    Lotte Shopping has reported a strong set of results for its third quarter with gross sales up 23.1% to KRW3.5trn (£1.9bn). Operating profit was up by 44.7% to KRW241bn (£133m), while net profit increased 25.7% to KRW183bn (£86m). It had a good performance in all divisions, with like-for-like sales growth ...

  • News

    Anti-Japan protests close Isetan Mitsukoshi store

    2010-10-28T12:59:00Z

    Japan-based department store group Isetan Mitsukoshi was forced to suspend operations at its store in Chengdu in Sichuan province in China due to violent anti-Japan protests. As Japanese retail stores may remain targets of protests, it is uncertain whether Isetan Mitsukoshi can implement store opening plans in China. At present, ...

  • News

    dm group sales increase 8.8% to £4.73bn

    2010-10-28T12:56:00Z

    Drugstore operator dm reported gross group sales rose by 8.8% to €5.65bn (£4.73bn) in its 2009 fiscal year. In Germany sales reached €4bn (£3.35bn), growing by 8.7%. Chairman and chief executive Erich Harsch said that dm was aiming for market leadership and that it was going to close the gap ...