News brief

In Dubai, the Ibn Battuta Mall posted a record of traffic
In 2017, the Ibn Battuta Mall (owned by Nakheel) recorded 21 million visitors, driven by an influx of tourists, new residential developments in surrounding areas and
26 February 2018
Mirkaaz, THE MALL OF THE MONTH
Built by Chinese contractor CSCEC (China State Construction Engineering Corporation), the construction of the US$136 million Mirkaaz mall in Ajman city, U.A.E., started in January 2018, with an...
26 February 2018
Hema ventures in the Middle East
The unprofitable retailer Hema (which sells fashion, designer homeware products, cosmetics, etc.) is venturing outside Europe with the imminent opening of a store in Dubai in the United Arab...
26 February 2018
Lululemon searches a C.E.O
Laurent Potdevin resigned in January under questionable and unexplained circumstances, with an exit package of US$5 million. The C.E.O. “fell short” of Lululemon’s standards...
26 February 2018
“2018 will be a difficult year for Amazon”
That is what Jerome Gayet, Head of BDC Consultants said following the NRF Big Show in New York in January 2018. Amazon will face a plethora of new competitors issued from
26 February 2018
GPA and Carrefour compete for market leadership in Brazil
In 2017, Carrefour posted gross revenue of US$16.2 billion (+6.1% from 2016) while GPA expanded its revenue (including petrol stations) by 8.2% to US$15 billion. The revenue gap between both firms...
26 February 2018
Corporate tax rates fall in the U.S
In the U.S., the tax overhaul will decrease the 2018 corporate tax rate on companies’ profit from 35% to 21%, following the new laws passed by the Senate in December 2017.
26 February 2018
Can Amazon do with fashion what it did with books ?
As Amazon.com became the world’s 6th biggest retailer by sales in 2016 (sales from the digital market place excluded), the core success of selling books will not be as straightforward when...
26 February 2018
Wojooh, THE CONCEPT OF THE MONTH
The Chalhoub Group, specialised in luxury brands expanding in the Middle East region, is making inroads in Latin America. It will roll out its beauty banner called “Wojooh” in Costa...
26 February 2018
Dune London sparkles this year
British footwear retailer, Dune London, recorded an increase in like-for-like retail sales of 5.2% for its full-year period to January 2018, despite a challenging retail environment in the U.K...
26 February 2018
Ikea is testing renting out and buying back furniture
In Japan, Ikea has undertaken a more sustainable business venture: renting out and buying back their own furniture. The new concept is an effort to become more environmentally-friendly. The...
26 February 2018
Zara opens its first click-and collect-store
Zara is opening a first store solely dedicated to click-and-collect orders at Westfield Stratford City in east London. The 200 sq.m GLA store is designed to support ordering and collection of...
26 February 2018
Kering bets on luxury
Eager to focus on its luxury labels of Gucci, which generated 70% of Kering’s total profit in 2017, the luxury giant aims to split off Puma through a share offer. This is valued at €5.8...
26 February 2018
Creative Space, the Concept of the Month
Located in posh Frederiksberg, a fashionable part of Copenhagen, Denmark, with excellent shopping opportunities and green spaces, Creative Space is an original retail concept covering 186 sq.m in...
26 February 2018
Swiss shoe maker Bally under Chinese flag
So far, Chinese used to be among the world’s biggest consumers of luxury products. They are now direct investors into luxury firms. The fashion group Shandong Ruyi (owner of Sandro, Maje...
26 February 2018
Textile. Turkish investors advance their players into Africa
In early February 2018, the Turkish investor Ayka Textile signed a major investment project to develop the textile industry in Burkina Faso, West Africa’s largest cotton producer. The...
26 February 2018
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Most viewed articles of the month on mind Retail
What readers clicked on the most last month.
What readers clicked on the most last month.
1
Electronic labels: Hanshow accelerates breakthrough and signs with a leading British retailer
While the leader in electronic labels, Vusion exceeded €1.47 billion in revenue in 2025, rival Hanshow is stepping up a global offensive, winning a strategic account in the U.K. and a new POC for...
27 February 2026
2
Conflicts in the Middle East: what impact on the supply chain and European retail?
With US and Israeli strikes on Iran triggering a major crisis on February 28, 2026, retailers already have to face the closure of strategic trade routes, rising freight costs and import...
3
Regulatory: With 200,000 Digital Product Passports issued, Darty scales up
While the European Commission is set to vote on delegated acts to specify requirements for home appliances, Darty is accelerating a Digital Product Passport (DPP) push by integrating new products...
11 March 2026
4
Following a complaint from the FTC, Walmart agrees to pay US$100 million to Spark delivery drivers
On February 26, 2026, Walmart (2025 revenue: US$713.2 billion, up by 5.1% at constant rates) agreed to pay US$100 million in response to allegations of misleading compensation to delivery drivers...
5
Agentic commerce : After Stripe, Mirakl partners with JPMorgan Payments
On March 10, 2026, Mirakl and JPMorgan Payments (JPMP) unveiled a partnership to deploy agentic commerce by combining the Mirakl Nexus agentic orchestration platform with the U.S. bank’s...
16 March 2026
6
Online authentification : Prelude expands a “message free” solution globally 
A competitor to Twilio, Vonage and Plivo, the French startup Prelude, which has 75 retail clients, is actively deploying Prelude Zero, an authentication method that requires no message delivery...
13 March 2026