News brief
In Shanghai, Apple opens an 8th store and hopes to boost sales in China
On March 18, Apple (sales of US$383.3 billion down by 2.8% in the fiscal year to September 2023, net margin of US$97 billion down by 2.8%) opened Apple Jing’an, an 8th store in Shanghai with...
21 March 2024
Travel retail in Thailand: Siam Piwat targets wealthy tourists
Following an investment of US$28 million in Q4 2023, which should double this year, Thai operator and developer Siam Piwat (turnover of US$1.54 billion in 2023) is negotiating a partnership with...
20 March 2024
The Home Depot improves efficiency for B2B clients through a dedicated supply chain
In 2024, The Home Depot is continuing B2B investments. After acquiring B2B distributors HD Supply Holdings (2020) and Construction Resources (planned for 2024), the chain plans to add 4...
19 March 2024
Dollar Tree reevaluates its portfolio and targets higher income consumers
On 13 March, discounter Dollar Tree (US$ 30.6 billion turnover in 2023, up 8%) announced closure of 6% of stores (1,000 units out of 16,774). The operator of Family Dollar (acquired in 2015 for...
19 March 2024
Strategic expansion in the Middle East for The Conran Shop
The Conran Shop (sales of €30.75 million in the FY to March 2022, up by 65%) is moving part of the business to the Middle East. The home furnishings retailer (13 stores in 4 countries in...
14 March 2024
Ukraine: After Pandora, Yves Rocher and H&M, Zara resumes partial operations
Pandora and Yves Rocher re-opened in Ukraine after suspension at the start of the war, followed by Sweden’s Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) with 7 of 8 stores in Ukraine for Kyiv and Lviv...
13 March 2024
[mind Retail Exclusive] Carrefour disengages from Africa
According to our sources, Carrefour is progressively withdrawing from Africa, which began in 2013 with the creation of a joint venture between CFAO (55%) and itself (45%). In...
8 March 2024
[confidential] Skello relies on Open-Ai to speed up the creation of sales schedules
From March onwards, Skello, which specialises in scheduling tools for in-store team members, will be integrating a generative AI function. After launching quarter-hourly planning in the summer of...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- Analysis
7 March 2024
Alshaya closes nearly half of stores in Egypt’s troubled economy
After 18 years in Egypt, Kuwaiti operator Alshaya decided at the start of 2024 to cut more than 40% of its local business, closing 60 of 145 local stores in the coming weeks. The lay-off plan...
7 March 2024
Regulatory : Vietnam wants to revitalise shopping streets
Five years after the creation of the CPTPP trade agreement with the U.K., Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Mexico and Peru, Vietnam is...
6 March 2024
Lulu Group to build a major mall of 288,000 sq.m in Ahmedabad
In 2024, Abu Dhabi-based retailer Lulu Group (global annual turnover of US$7.3 billion in 2023) plans to build one of India’s largest malls. Located in Ahmedabad it will cover 288,000 sq.m...
5 March 2024
Aramco strengthens in South America with the takeover of Esmax
On 1 March 2024, Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco (valued at US$7.62 billion) acquired Chile’s Esmax Distribucion SPA from the Southern Cross Group (100% buyout, amount not disclosed). The...
5 March 2024
Travel retail: China wants South-East Asia to become a visa-free zone
China is stepping up the number of agreements with neighboring countries, to relax or even lift visa policies. Since March 1, 2024, citizens of China and Thailand can travel to the other country...
1 March 2024
USA: Ikea wants to take advantage of falling valuations and acquire more malls
While e-commerce has plateaued at around 25% of sales for the past 2 years, Ingka Group (total sales €47.6 billion in 2023, up by 6.6%) is stepping up property investments. Last week, Cindy...
1 March 2024
Temu wants to open a digital marketplace to American sellers
The e-commerce platform Temu (a subsidiary of PDD Holdings, Pinduoduo’s parent company), known for low-value products, is expanding considerably. By October 2023, Temu was selling into 47...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
27 February 2024
Electronics: Currys to be taken over by China’s JD.com?
After selling off the Greek business in November 2023 and cutting operating costs, Currys PLC (€4.9 billion turnover in 6 months to the end of October 2023) could receive a takeover bid from...
27 February 2024
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Our mind news
According to our sources, the young start-up Hymalaia is continuing development in retail with 4 new retailers currently in POC and an imminent fundraising. We examine the details.
- Retail
- mind Exclusive
- Retail tech
16 December 2025
The start-up founded by the duo behind Teester and Skeepers is accelerating automation of second-hand product flows. The strategy is to use AI to direct products to high-traffic marketplaces such...
- Retail
- mind Exclusive
- Retail tech
9 December 2025
French retail tech XXII, which aims to become the Google Analytics and Contentsquare of physical stores, has already signed with 15 retailers and shopping centres, mind Retail learned. A year...
- Retail
- mind Exclusive
- Retail tech
5 December 2025
Buoyed by a €3.8 million seed round closed in mid‑November 2025, French start‑up Dialog, specialised in AI‑based conversational e‑commerce, is accelerating. Initially placed on product pages, this...
- Retail
- mind Exclusive
- Retail tech
4 December 2025
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
Laurent Hugou (Les Mousquetaires): “With Diebold’s camera system, shrinkage at self-check-out is reduced by a third”
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...
- Retail
- Retail tech
- Analysis
11 December 2025
2
How Maison 123 generated €420,000 on WhatsApp in 5 months
Riding on a reduction in Meta’s commercial policy, Wax start‑up specialised in WhatsApp engagement, is gaining ground, capitalising on messaging as a customer acquisition and retention channel in...
- Retail
- Retail tech
- Analysis
3 December 2025
3
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...
- Retail
- mind Exclusive
- Retail tech
26 November 2025
4
Carmila join forces with Unlimitail and JCDecaux to equip 252 malls
On December 9, Carrefour and Carmila signed a partnership with Unlimitail and JCDecaux to create a retail media network combining indoor DOOH and outdoor OOH across their sites in France and...
- Retail
- Property and investors
- News
12 December 2025
5
Facing Temu and Shein’s offensive, Amazon cuts merchant fees
Asian marketplaces Shein, Temu and AliExpress, weakened in the U.S.A., are accelerating in Europe with very low, even zero, initial commissions. Amazon, as the global largest e-commerce player...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- News
9 December 2025
6
With Grand Frais, Apollo makes a first move into European grocery retail
Through an agreement to acquire 70% of the operator of Grand Frais, the US investment fund Apollo aims to double stores and evolve a model that has so far been entirely focused on physical retail...
- Retail
- Property and investors
- News
19 December 2025