Retail

Bloomberg J Sainsbury Plc, Britain’s second-largest grocer, said the Covid-19 pandemic will disrupt business until September, and then the economic fallout will set in. Costs will rise by 500 million pounds ($623 million) this year because of safety measures and lower fuel sales. That will be offset by 450 million pounds of property tax relief from the UK government, leading ...

Bloomberg Consumer giant Unilever Plc and the Spanish company behind Paco Rabanne perfumes are among beauty heavyweights competing to buy celebrity makeup brand Charlotte Tilbury. L’Oreal SA of France, Estée Lauder Cos in New York and Japanese beauty company Shiseido Co also made bids for the London-based brand, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is ...

Bloomberg The luxury brand Burberry is famed for plaid scarves and $1,800 trench coats. But for employees at its only warehouse in the US — operating as an “essential business” during the pandemic — daily standard issue in the time of Covid-19 is this: one surgical mask, one disinfectant wipe. For weeks, employees have been growing increasingly anxious about working ...

Bloomberg The top two trade groups representing major retailers such as Walmart Inc, Target Corp and Best Buy Co are calling on governors to adopt uniform reopening standards as the pandemic subsides, including allowing warehouses and distribution centers nationwide to reopen all at once, rather than state-by-state. As states, cities, and companies big and small struggle over when and how ...

Bloomberg Adidas AG Chief Executive Officer Kasper Rorsted tried to present a silver lining as he predicted the German shoemaker’s first quarterly loss in four years: that cooped-up consumers might need more sportswear once countries lift stay-at-home orders. More than two-thirds of Adidas’s stores are closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which led the company to forecast an unprofitable quarter ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc is asking warehouse employees who have stayed away from work during the pandemic to return for scheduled shifts beginning from May 1, or request a leave of absence. The move sets up a critical choice for employees at a company that has become a lifeline for Americans locked down to contain outbreaks of Covid-19. After the coronavirus ...

Bloomberg When their doors finally open after mandatory shutdowns, American malls could face another hurdle: consumer fears. Only one-third of American adults surveyed said that they will feel safe shopping in a mall after stores reopen, according to a new study by retail predictive analytics company First Insight Inc. More respondents said they’ll feel safe shopping in grocery, drug and ...

Bloomberg E-commerce companies have emerged as a favourite play on Wall Street during the coronavirus pandemic, amid a growing consensus that upcoming results will reveal a potentially permanent shift in consumer behaviour towards online shopping. While online sales have long been growing their market share as a percentage of overall retail spending, the trend has been accelerated as shutdowns force ...

Bloomberg A Walmart Inc store near Denver has been shuttered by local authorities after three people with ties to the location died from coronavirus. The closing came after a series of complaints from employees and shoppers about a lack of social distancing, according to the Tri-County Health Department. This included workers not wearing face masks and too many people in ...

Bloomberg The retail shutdowns sweeping the country amid the coronavirus outbreak have put L Brands Inc in a tough spot. With a deal to sell its iconic Victoria’s Secret brand now in jeopardy, things just got a lot worse. The future of the ailing inner wear business is in limbo after Sycamore Partners said it wants out of the deal ...