News brief

Eager to create lifestyle destinations in India, the global private equity investor Xander Group used its retail arm (Virtuous Retail South Asia) to buy a 185,880 sq.m mall in Chandigarh for

19 September 2017

Second-hand fashion expands in China.

According to Fung Global Retail & Technology, in 2016, pre-owned luxury fashion spending jumped by 20% to €1 billion. In context, the total value of

19 September 2017

Dubai, a retail oligopoly.

Only five developers own 87% of Dubai’s stock of malls and 15 retailers represent 90% of foreign brands in Dubai (Source: Savant). The innovative Emirate is also

19 September 2017

Al-Hokair buys a 10% stake in Turkish bakers.

The Fawaz Abdulaziz Al-Hokair Saudi Group will buy 10% of the Simit Sarayi bakery chain from Turkey (bagels and pastries). This represents 408 stores to December 2017. Abdul Majeed Alhokair will...

19 September 2017

Is fast-fashion in Africa impossible ?

For Mariza Nel, Head of Communication at Steinhoff, operating successfully in Africa requires a lot of flexibility and no unnecessary frills. “Retailers have to have a very simple

19 September 2017

Carrefour will be the anchor tenant of the U.A.E.’s first nature-inspired mall.

In Dubai, the future “Dubai Miracle Garden Mall” (developed by Cityland Group) will launch

19 September 2017

Fnac takes a step back in Brazil.

Fnac Group signed a sale agreement with the local retailer Livraria Cultura in June (undisclosed amount). Fnac has been present in Brazil since 1999, operating only 12 stores in the southern

19 September 2017

Via Varejo to test new store concepts in Brazil.

Having suspended the “For Sale” notice, home-electrical retailer Via Varejo will open in December a virtual and urban store (probably in Sao Paulo) with low footage and with no...

19 September 2017

Ikea will jump into augmented reality

In the United States of America, the world’s largest furniture retailer Ikea is working with a new augmented reality application for furniture placement. Users have a full view of their room...

19 September 2017

Leroy Merlin is testing a retail store in Johannesburg

In May 2017, the D.I.Y. giant opened its first experimental store in South Africa, which offers

19 September 2017

No merger between Orchestra and Destination Maternity.

For the 3rd time, the merger attempt between Orchestra and its U.S. rival Destination Maternity ended in failure during the summer. This was due to

19 September 2017

HBC, The concept of the month

As buy-out rumours increase for struggling Canadian retailer Hudson’s Bay, in September the firm opened its 1st full-range European department store in Amsterdam. A sales area of 17,000 sq.m...

19 September 2017

Lego changes C.E.O. after just eight months.

In a surprise move, the Danish toy firm replaced British C.E.O Bali Padda, appointed in December after serving at Lego for 15 years. He is replaced by Niels B. Christiansen (aged 51), former Head...

19 September 2017

Adidas to close 160 Russian stores this year.

As Russian sales shrink, the German sportswear retailer has already closed more than 100 stores this year and will close another 50 by December. C.E.O. Kasper Rorsted expects the Russian market to...

19 September 2017

German department stores flirt with outlets.

As the U.S. Saks Off 5th launches in Germany and the Netherlands, Karstadt department stores will also test sales space for low prices this year, in partnership with online pure-players...

19 September 2017

Carrefour wants smaller hypermarkets in China

At the Mapic conference in Shanghai in late August 2017, Frank Chan, Director of Carrefour’s shopping centres in China, said: “We are reducing the average sales area of...

18 September 2017

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3 December 2025

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Shift towards an omnichannel payment service provider, roll-out of mobile payment and Diebold’s computer vision solution for self-checkout, impact of one-click payment on online sales, adoption of...

11 December 2025

Retail media: Marionnaud bets on print with Figaro to boost drive-to-store

According to our sources, Marionnaud’s beauty retailer will expand an advertising unit into 3 new countries in 2026 and is launching another retail media lever in the French key market. The goal...

26 November 2025

Carmila join forces with Unlimitail and JCDecaux to equip 252 malls

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12 December 2025

Deborah Van Dessel (Lagardère Travel Retail): “We are testing AI tools and prompts for store layout”

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25 November 2025

Coupang’s C.E.O. resigns after data leak of 33.7 million customers

On December 10, Park Dae-Jun, CEO of South Korean e-commerce retailer Coupang (2024 revenue: US$31.5 billion up by 29%) resigned. The cause was a security breach that exposed the personal...

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