All articles by Planet Retail – Page 64
-
News
Merchandising chief John Fleming leaves Walmart
Walmart has revealed another key executive change in the US.Bill Simon, recently appointed as president and chief executive of Walmart US, has announced that chief merchandising officer John Fleming has made a personal decision to leave the company.As a result, Simon has asked Jack Sinclair, executive vice-president and general manager, ...
-
News
LVMH to acquire 70% of Brazil’s Sack’s
France-based luxury and specialty retail group LVMH is to acquire a 70% stake in Sack’s, a leading online retailer of fragrances, cosmetics and toiletries in Brazil.The operation will form part of the group’s beauty store operation, Sephora, and the acquisition will mark Sephora’s entry into the Brazilian market.Sephora is expected ...
-
News
Aditya Birla opens 8th Hydrabad hypermarket
Grocer Aditya Birla has opened its eighth hypermarket in Hyderabad, and taken the opportunity to reiterate its aggressive expansion and private-label strategies.Chief executive Thomas Varghese said that Aditya Birla intends to grow private-label sales to 30% across the FMCG, clothing and general merchandise categories. The group expects to be EBITDA ...
-
News
Fast Retailing enters JV to bring Uniqlo to Malaysia
Japanese fashion retailer Fast Retailing has established a joint venture in Malaysia to develop its Uniqlo chain in the southeast Asian nation.The partnership has targeted the end of 2010 for the opening of the country’s first Uniqlo store, but this could be brought forward to as early as this autumn.“We ...
-
News
Australia’s Metcash acquires Franklins chain
Grocer Metcash has agreed to acquire the 85-strong Franklins supermarket chain in New South Wales from South Africa-based Pick n Pay for about Aus$215m (£119m).Following the acquisition, Metcash is planning to sell the stores on to the independent IGA retailers, which it supplies as a wholesaler, with the potential ...
-
News
Harvey Norman acquires rival Clive Peeters
Electricals retailer Harvey Norman has announced that it has bought competitor Clive Peeters following its entry into voluntary administration after a difficult trading period.The company paid A$55m (£30.4m) for the 38 operating Clive Peeters and Rick Hart shops.The deal is expected to add between Aus$300 and Aus$400m (£166.1 and £221.5m) ...
-
News
Amazon launches food offer in Germany
Amazon has launched its online shop for groceries in the country, with 30,000 items, including vegetables, meat, fish and baked goods as part of the offer.The products are offered by Amazon and 60 partners with whom the retailer has teamed up. Delivery will remain the same as Amazon’s normal service ...
-
News
Germany’s Woolworth emerges from insolvency
Variety store operator Woolworth has formally emerged from insolvency, following its integration into the Tengelmann group. Of the formerly about 300-strong portfolio, which was reduced to 162 under administration, about 150 have now been transferred to the new owners.The group of owners consists of Tengelmann and HH Holding, the group ...
-
News
Sligro set to take over Sanders
Grocery wholesaler and retailer Sligro is about to take over regional supermarket operator Sanders. Sligro said it expects that an agreement will be reached on the acquisition of Sanvier, the operator of 22 Sanders supermarkets in the Twente region and a meat processing business. Both Sanders and Sligro are members ...
-
News
Bed Bath & Beyond to spend £150m on IT and stores
Bed Bath & Beyond has announced plans to spend $225m (£150m) on IT, new store openings and a store refresh initiative.The retailer plans to open about 55 to 60 stores across all of its concepts in fiscal 2010.Bed Bath & Beyond co-chairman Leonard Feinstein said: “We continue to work to ...
-
News
Walgreens Q3 sales up 6.1%
Drugstore operator Walgreens has reported $463m (£307m) net earnings for the third quarter ended May 31, down from $522m (£346.5m) in the same period of last year. Third-quarter sales increased 6.1% to a record $17.2bn (£11.41bn). Total sales in comparable stores increased 0.7%, while like-for-like store front-end sales increased 0.1%.Front-end ...
-
News
Bed Bath & Beyond Q1 sales up 13.5%
Bed Bath & Beyond has posted a net sales rise of 13.5% to $1.92bn (£1.27bn) for the first quarter of 2010. Like-for-like sales increased by about 8.4%. Net earnings rocketed 58% to $138m (£91.6m).During the first quarter the retailer opened two Bed Bath & Beyond stores and two Buybuy Baby ...
-
News
Mercator drops Merkur acquisition plan
Mercator, the country’s largest food retailer, has abandoned its plans to buy local rival Merkur due to issues with Merkur’s creditors. Last month Mercator signed a letter of intent to buy Merkur’s retail network, but Merkur’s bank creditors decided against the sale of any part of the company. Merkur, which ...
-
News
Gap plans to open stores in China
US retailer Gap plans to open two stores each in Beijing and Shanghai later this year and will offer online shopping in China.The fashion retailer said the store openings are part of a long-term expansion strategy that involves more stores in major regions, including Hong Kong. The China stores will ...
-
News
Sa Sa profit up 20.6%
Asian beauty retailer Sa Sa reported group turnover for the year ended March 31 rising 13.9% to HK$4.11bn (£350.7m). The group’s profit for the year grew 20.6% to HK$381.1m (£32.5m).In Hong Kong and Macau, the group’s turnover increased 10.3% to HK$3.29bn (£280.8m). Sales in mainland China market increased 61.3% while ...
-
News
Chen Xiao to step down as Gome president
Chinese electronics retailer Gome has announced that Chen Xiao is to step down as president. Xiao will remain as chairman. He has held both roles since January 2009. Wang Junzhou has been named as president.The news follows Gome’s closure of some loss-making stores in recent years.
-
News
Galeries Lafayette opening stores in China and Indonesia
French department store retailer Galeries Lafayette aims to open stores in China and Indonesia. The chain had already opened stores in Beijing, Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo in the 1990s but they were unprofitable and closed down.Galaries Lafayette is taking a more careful approach to Asian expansion this time and has ...
-
News
H&M Q2 sales rocket 24%
Clothing retailer H&M has announced its financial results for the first half ended June 22. Group net sales were up 4% to SEK51.88bn (£4.46bn), while group net profit was SEK8.95bn (£770m). Group net sales for the second quarter jumped 2% to SEK27bn (£2.32bn) and group net profit for the second ...
-
News
Harvey Norman’s Irish losses mount
Blaine Callard, the chief executive of Australian electronics retailer Harvey Norman’s Irish operations, has stated that the company is “not going anywhere” and would persist despite difficult trading conditions.Callard made the comments in spite of a nine-fold increase in losses last year, up to €40m (£33m). He added that the ...
-
News
Toys R Us new Christmas tactic
Toys R Us is planning a new tactic to get consumers to spend this Christmas.The toy retailer has begun offering a ‘Christmas Savers Club’ that allows shoppers to save money with the company for holiday gifts.Participants will receive a card similar to a gift card and can contribute funds to ...