All International articles – Page 240
-
AnalysisCan Best Buy dent locals’ dominance in China?
After pursuing cautious expansion in China since opening its first eponymous superstore there in 2006, Best Buy is planning to ramp up expansion in the market next year.
-
News
Reliance Retail appoints Gwyn Sundhagul as chief exec of value-format division
Reliance Retail has appointed Gwyn Sundhagul chief executive of its value-format division, which includes the Reliance Mart, Reliance Super and Reliance Fresh fascias.Sundhagul was formerly chief marketing officer of Tesco’s Thai subsidiary Lotus. Reliance Retail operates almost 1,000 retail stores throughout India.
-
News
Cencosud plans to invest $700m in five South American countries
Cencosud plans to invest $700m in five South American countries as part of its 2010 growth plan.The investment will be distributed among projects Cencosud has in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru, according to president Horst Paulmann.Details of how the investment will be distributed among the five countries have yet ...
-
News
Grupo Pão de Açúcar acquires 51% stake in Casas Bahia
Casino-owned Grupo Pão de Açúcar has acquired a 51% stake in electricals chain Casas Bahia, a rival to its Ponto Frio fascia.Casas Bahia operates 513 stores in Brazil and focuses strongly on white goods, furniture and electronics.The existing shareholders of Casas Bahia will retain a 49% stake in the retailer.As ...
-
News
Metcash posts a 36.5% rise in first-half profit
Grocery wholesaler Metcash posted a 36.5% rise in first-half profit, with chief executive Andrew Rietzer describing its grocery alliance business IGA as a “powerhouse” that is performing well against the competition.“The trading environment is strong. However, low price inflation continues to hamper trading opportunities across all of our business pillars,” ...
-
News
Delhaize Group reveals plans to cut operating costs by €300m
Delhaize Group has revealed plans to cut operating costs by €300m (£267m) by 2012 and intends to introduce a more price competitive strategy from 2010 across all its fascias.The Belgium-based group intends to cut operating costs through fascia-specific initiatives and by increasing shared services across the group.Delhaize is also ...
-
News
Revenue at pharmacy operator Nepstar declines 9.3%
Revenue at pharmacy operator Nepstar declined 9.3% in the third quarter to Yn556m (£495m), while net income remained stable at Yn7m (£33m).Nepstar chief finance officer William Dai said: “Our ability to consistently generate strong free cash flow demonstrates that our financial health has strengthened throughout the economic recovery and paves ...
-
News
Colruyt Group increases revenue by 7.1%
Grocer Colruyt Group increased revenue by 7.1% to €3.32bn (£2.95bn) in the first six months of its 2009-10 financial year.Operating profit climbed 7.8% to €229m (£204m), resulting in a stable EBIT margin.Profit margins were affected by increased labour costs resulting from wage inflation.The Colruyt fascia achieved revenue growth of 6.6%, ...
-
NewsBoots celebrates 160th anniversary
Alliance Boots has reiterated its ambitions to become a global brand as the health and beauty retailer celebrates its 160th anniversary.
-
NewsDSGi to sue legal advisers over French loss
Consumer electricals giant DSGi is reportedly to sue its own legal advisers for as much as €1m over alleged mistakes in closing down the retailer’s business in France.
-
NewsOcado mulls partnership with Carrefour
Online grocer Ocado is understood to have held talks with French retailer Carrefour about a partnership to deliver shopping to customers’ homes in France.
-
NewsDebenhams to open in Vietnam
Department store group Debenhams is to open in Vietnam as it seeks to bolster its international portfolio.
-
NewsSupergroup to launch stores in Irish Republic
Superdry and Cult parent Supergroup is to open its first Republic of Ireland shops before Christmas.
-
AnalysisDubai’s financial demise will have knock-on effect
Middle East financial observers seem generally confident that Abu Dhabi and Dubai will thrash out a deal to rescue Dubai’s state investment vehicle Dubai World in the restructuring of its $60bn (£37bn) debt, although Abu Dhabi officials have suggested that the bail-out would most likely be on a selective basis.
-
News
Woolworths expects a strong Christmas trading period
Multi-format Australian retailer Woolworths is expecting a strong Christmas trading period.Chief executive Michael Luscombe said business is “going along quite nicely”. The retailer revealed that net profit could exceed the Aus$2bn (£1bn) mark this financial year and it is still on the lookout for investment opportunities.For its 2010 financial year, ...
-
AnalysisAS Watson: Gunning for the Chinese lion’s share
Global health and beauty giant AS Watson has big plans for China, with ambitions for as many as 5,000 stores there. Tim Danaher flew to Shanghai for a rare interview with managing director Dominic Lai, the man masterminding the Superdrug owner’s expansion.
-
News
Carrefour in Italy confirms DìperDì fascia converts
Carrefour in Italy has confirmed that it is to convert all of its DìperDì neighbourhood stores to the Carrefour Express fascia as part of its multi-format single brand strategy.The international grocery group’s Italian GS supermarkets are being converted into Carrefour Market at present. Carrefour said that the multi-format single brand ...
-
News
Pinault plans to divest its retail businesses
PPR chief executive François-Henri Pinault told the Wall Street Journal that the group plans to divest its retail businesses including Conforama, Fnac and Redcats.Pinault did not give any details on when the group plans to sell the companies, but said: “The sooner, the better.” He added that about 20 companies ...
-
News
Metro Cash & Carry unveils new portfolio of private-label brands
Metro Cash & Carry has unveiled a new portfolio of private-label brands that it intends to roll out to all the countries in which it operates.The six private labels include Aro, which comprises 700 food and non-food products and Fine Food, with 700 SKUs aimed at independent food traders and ...
-
News
Black Friday weekend web and store visitors
195 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend – the Friday after Thanksgiving that traditionally signals the start of the Christmas selling period in the US – up from 172 million last year, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).However, the average spend over the weekend ...