Retail

Bloomberg Ocado Group Plc is raising just over 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) through a share placement, retail offer and convertible bonds to fund expansion of online grocery shopping in an era of social distancing. The company said on Thursday it’s getting 657 million pounds via the share placement and retail offer and 350 million pounds through the convertible bond …

Bloomberg Estee Lauder Cos plans to hire more black employees, buy more from black-owned businesses and expand diversity training programs after employees raised concerns about race relations within the company. Top executives at one of the world’s largest cosmetics businesses said they “stand in solidarity with our black employees, black consumers and black communities and firmly believe black lives matter,” …

Bloomberg Gadget junkies soon won’t need an appointment to shop at Best Buy Co anymore. Starting from June 15, the nation’s biggest consumer-electronics retailer will allow a limited number of shoppers inside most of its stores, moving past an appointment-only model that it had instituted in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The retailer will bring back about 9,000 employees …

Bloomberg A few weeks after Spain declared a nationwide lockdown in mid-March to fight the growing coronavirus outbreak, clothing retailer Inditex SA began running low on goods. The world’s largest fashion retailer typically operates a lean warehouse operation, preferring instead to hold the majority of its stock in stores that double as e-commerce fulfillment centres. That way, turnaround is faster, …

Bloomberg Ascena Retail Group, the owner of the Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant apparel chains, is discussing a potential bankruptcy filing with lenders after its business was thrown into disarray by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Chapter 11 filing, which could come as soon as July, would allow the company to keep some …

Bloomberg Victoria’s Secret UK arm is appointing an administrator to help overhaul its business, amid plunging sales across the retail sector. The unit of Ohio-based L Brands Inc, which operates 25 stores in the country, will appoint Deloitte to renegotiate leases or sell the stores, Stuart Burgdoerfer, the unit’s interim chief executive officer, said in an emailed statement. Victoria’s Secret …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc is expanding its air cargo operations with plans to grow its fleet to more than 80 planes as the online retailer takes advantage of a depressed market for aircraft during the pandemic. The company announced that it had leased 12 converted Boeing 767-300 passenger planes from Air Transport Services Group Inc. One was added to Amazon’s existing …

Bloomberg Celebrity makeup brand Charlotte Tilbury is nearing a sale to Puig, the Spanish company behind Paco Rabanne perfumes, in a deal valuing the business at more than $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said. An agreement to buy UK-based Tilbury could be announced as early as this week, said the people, who asked not to be identified because …

Bloomberg Tiffany & Co plunged after Women’s Wear Daily (WDD) reported LVMH’s $16 billion deal to buy the jeweler is uncertain as the US economy faces widespread upheaval. Board members of the French luxury giant arranged to meet to discuss the planned acquisition, WWD reported, citing unidentified individuals. Directors are concerned about the Covid-19 pandemic that has disrupted the US …

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s retail activity extended a decline in April as the coronavirus pandemic continued to constrain global travel. The city’s retail sales by value fell 36.1% from year-ago levels to HK$24.1 billion ($3.1 billion), for a 15th consecutive monthly decline, according to a government release. That’s ahead of the median economists’ forecast for a 40% slump, according to data …