News brief

In Milan, Kering spends €1.3 billion on the second most expensive street in the world
On 4 April, Kering (sales of €19.6 billion in 2023, down 2% in one year, and a net margin of 15.6% of sales, down 18%) announced the purchase of a building in Milan for €1.3 billion from...
5 April 2024
In France, 47% of influencers do not comply with the law
In France, the 9 June 2023 law aimed at regulating commercial influence and combating the poor behaviour of influencers on social networks established a legal framework for advertising practices...
4 April 2024
Ikea buys Ikano Bank
Swedish retailer Ikea, which offers fractional payment (BNPL) and consumer credit services, could soon be expanding a range of financial services. The parent company Ingka Group (total sales of...
4 April 2024
Department stores: Central Group wants to buy Signa Holding’s property assets
According to Reuters, the luxury division of Austrian property company Signa Holding (US$ 5.5 billion in debt as of November 2023), which includes Globus in Switzerland, Selfridges in London and...
3 April 2024
Fashion: U.S.A. second-hand clothing is struggling to make profits
In the U.S.A., second-hand marketplaces are not making profits. Clothing resale platform ThredUp (sales of US$322 million in 2023, up 12%) continues to post substantial losses (US$71.2 million in...
Regulatory: Brussels agrees directive on platform workers
Despite French opposition and Germany‘s abstention, the European Council approved the directive on platform workers, thanks to the new votes of Greece and Estonia. It will be the...
EU: members adopt a watered-down due diligence directive at the last minute
After documents for CSRD, the EU will complete a regulatory framework on CSR with a directive covering due diligence. Validated by members, the agreement on the text, still streamlined, only needs...
28 March 2024
U.S.A: 4 years after Covid-19, property companies are tightening up commercial leases
In both America and Europe, property companies increased rent rebates in 2020 and 2021 to save retailers from bankruptcy. This included new variable rents within commercial leases and exceptional...
28 March 2024
VFCorp launches Supreme in China with a first owned store
On March 22, 2014, the Supreme fashion brand opened a first owned store in China, in Shanghai (corner of Changle Road and Fumin Road), where the headquarters of parent company VFCorp are...
28 March 2024
Lego bricks is still strong in a crumbling toy market
In 2023, against a difficult backdrop for the toy sector (the global market was down 7% according to Circana), Lego continued to slow. Turnover reached €8.84 billion in 2023, up only 2% in a...
28 March 2024
Ulta Beauty joins forces with Axo to sell in Mexico
On March 14, 2024, US cosmetics and beauty retailer Ulta Beauty (US$11.2 billion turnover in the financial year to February 2024, up 5.7% like-for-like) announced a debut in Mexico in 2025, thanks...
27 March 2024
Rent Now Pay Later: In Dubai, Keyper wants no more bank cheques
On March 13, 2024, Keyper, an Emirati start-up specialising in fractional payments for shopping centre tenants, joined forces with Direct Debit System. This partnership with a direct debit...
27 March 2024
ESG: China takes a cue from Europe’s CSRD
On February 8, 2024, in the wake of the European CSRD, China announced new ESG regulations for 400 of the largest Chinese companies. China is thus hoping to boost investment confidence of foreign...
26 March 2024
Aldi invests US$9 billion in U.S.A. expansion
On March 7, 2024, German discounter Aldi (12,000 stores worldwide, including 2,400 in the U.S.A.) announced an investment of €9 billion over 5 years for American expansion. The firm also...
25 March 2024
Duty-free purchases by Chinese on the rise again worldwide, but especially in Asia
After 4 years of fluctuations, a recovery in duty-free sales is picking up again, reaching a rate comparable to pre-Covid-19 levels. According to Global Blue, in February 2024, duty-free sales...
22 March 2024
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
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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
BNPL: Between healthcare and retail, Scalapay accelerates a P.O.S. offensive with two major signings
Building on a strong foothold in fashion, Scalapay is strengthening in-store penetration targeting players in the healthcare sector. According to our information, the Italian BNPL unicorn has...
25 February 2026
4
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
5
Profound raises US$96 million in Series C funding, becoming a first GEO unicorn
Founded in 2024 in New York by James Cadwallader, GEO startup Profound raised US$96 million on February 24, 2026, in a Series C round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, including Sequoia Capital...
25 February 2026
6
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