Retail

Bloomberg Poshmark Inc, the online marketplace for second-hand goods, rose 142% in its trading debut after raising $277 million in an initial public offering priced above the marketed range. Shares closed at $101.50 in New York trading, valuing the Redwood City, California-based company at about $8.5 billion on a fully diluted basis including options and restricted stock units. The company ...

Bloomberg Birkenstock, the German company behind the iconic sandals worn by hippies and preppies alike, is in talks to be taken over by CVC Capital Partners, according to people familiar with the matter. The private equity firm is in advanced negotiations with the family owners of the nearly 250-year-old brand, according to the people, who asked not to be identified ...

Bloomberg Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc and France’s Carrefour SA abandoned talks on a proposed $20 billion merger following stiff opposition from the French finance minister, and will look instead at forming a looser alliance. The companies will now consider how to work together on fuel purchases, branding and distribution where their networks overlap, the companies said in a joint statement. ...

Bloomberg Fast Retailing Co’s lineup of functional and casual attire continued to lure value-conscious shoppers whose preferences are changing in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, helping to push the Uniqlo operator’s first-quarter earnings close to an all-time high. Operating profit rose 23% to 113.1 billion yen ($1.1 billion) in the three months ended on November 30, according to a ...

Bloomberg With fermented foods reaching near-cult status for the health-obsessed, consumers have started hunting for the perfect bacteria. As a result, brand awareness — and the marketing that comes with it — has now made its way into the world of food cultures, according to Mauricio Graber, the chief executive of Denmark’s Chr Hansen Holding A/S, the world’s biggest maker ...

Bloomberg Taco Bell said it will begin testing a Beyond Meat menu item in the US, sending the faux-meat maker’s shares higher. The fast-food chain, a division of Yum! Brands Inc, said the companies are working together to create “an innovative new plant-based protein” that will be tested in the next year. Taco Bell cited Beyond’s “record of attracting younger ...

Bloomberg Digital brands looked headed for a reckoning a year ago, with bloated valuations, rising advertising costs and ever more competition. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit the US and gave a giant gift to brands that mainly sell directly through the web. With their brick-and-mortar competition shuttered and the virus raging, Americans flocked online and loaded up on home goods, ...

Bloomberg Urban Outfitters Inc plummeted after reporting a tough holiday quarter and a planned exit for the CEO of its namesake brand. The retailer said in a statement that Trish Donnelly, chief executive officer for the Urban Outfitters chain, will depart at the end of the month for a new opportunity. Sheila Harrington, who already runs the Free People brand, ...

Bloomberg Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc, the Canadian convenience-store operator that owns the Circle K chain, is exploring a takeover of French grocer Carrefour SA, a deal that would create a trans-Atlantic retail giant. Couche-Tard said it has started “exploratory discussions” on a friendly deal with Carrefour, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. There’s no certainty the talks will lead to a ...

Bloomberg In a bid to better leverage its millions of customers, retail giant Walmart Inc created a fintech startup to win more of their spending. The company has formed a partnership with Ribbit Capital, an investor in stock-trading platform Robinhood, to start a venture that “will bring together Walmart’s retail knowledge and scale with Ribbit’s fintech expertise to deliver tech-driven ...