Retail

Bloomberg Universal Robina Corp’s instant coffee and noodles are flying off grocery shelves in the Philippines, but the lockdown in the main Luzon island is disrupting supply chains and limiting its ability to meet orders. The company’s CEO Irwin Lee described the last few weeks as “frenetic” for the JG Summit Holdings Inc’s unit, which has had to adapt to ...

Bloomberg True Religion Apparel Inc, once a fast-growing premium jeans brand, filed for bankruptcy in Delaware, its second Chapter 11 since 2017. The company, acquired by New York- and London-based investment management firm TowerBrook Capital Partners in 2013 for $824 million, lists assets and liabilities of as much as $500 million each in the petition. Founded in 2002 and headquartered ...

Bloomberg Swiss chocolate makers are offering price cuts in an attempt to stem weak demand during the key Easter season, as shoppers scoop up toilet paper and soup rather than tinfoil bunnies. Lindt & Spruengli is offering online price cuts of 30% on its entire Easter assortment. Laederach, another high-end chocolate chain, abandoned its practice of avoiding discounts this year. ...

Bloomberg Each day, before the 350 employees at Fresh N’ Lean enter the company’s food preparation center in Anaheim, California, they fill out a health questionnaire and have their temperature taken. Anyone with symptoms, even if they seem like seasonal allergies, is asked to take paid emergency sick leave. Inside, workers are spaced widely apart and wear gloves and masks ...

Bloomberg Early looks from Starbucks and Costco Wholesale into their coronavirus-era businesses suggest that US consumers may not be ready to turn back to their old spending ways as soon as governments give the all-clear sign. Starbucks sales cratered at the end of March. Its experience in China, which is now emerging from forced social distancing, showed that customers were ...

Bloomberg Now that Japan’s government is urging consumers and businesses to step up efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, shoppers may finally have no excuse but to embrace e-commerce and wean themselves from brick-and-mortar stores. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and six other areas last week. In response, Uniqlo clothing owner Fast Retailing Co, ...

Bloomberg The fortunes of the Walton family — the pioneers of American bargain shopping — have reached new heights during a pandemic that has otherwise obliterated trillions of dollars of value across global markets. The combined net worth of siblings Alice, Jim and Rob Walton has climbed 2.6% this year to $165.7 billion as recession-wary shoppers flock to Walmart Inc ...

Bloomberg Costco Wholesale Corp’s sales soared in March, but not as much as expected: Curbs the retailer placed on its operations to cope with coronavirus-related demand slowed the pace in the back half of the month. The shares fell in extended trading. The retailer’s comparable US sales excluding fuel — a key metric watched by analysts — rose 12.1%, it ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s property owners will provide relief to retail tenants hardest hit by a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19. The initiative, which focusses on small-, medium- and micro-sized enterprises, will be rolled out by landlords nationally, the Property Industry Group said in a statement published on the website of the South African Real Estate Investment Trusts ...

Bloomberg Employee furloughs in the retail industry are now well over 1 million after the owner of TJ Maxx and Marshalls, one of America’s biggest clothing store chains, suspended its store workers. TJX Companies Inc said that it would furlough the majority of its US workforce at stores and distribution centres. It employs about 286,000 people worldwide, with most based ...