Retail

Bloomberg British food retailers have written a joint letter to their customers asking them to “buy responsibly” in the wake of shoppers stockpiling over fears about the new coronavirus. In an extraordinary development, 12 of Britain’s biggest grocers will publish advertisements in national newspapers on Sunday and Monday. Entitled “Working to Feed the Nation,” the letter reassures shoppers about steps ...

Bloomberg Walmart Inc, the biggest US retailer, was expected to cut its store operating hours starting from Sunday to give its workers time to restock shelves as the coronavirus outbreak intensifies. The pandemic is prompting Americans to buy more groceries and other daily necessities including cleaning products, often emptying shelves in anticipation of an extended period of so-called social distancing ...

Bloomberg UK mall landlord Intu Properties Plc may struggle to continue operating due to high debts and plunging asset values, its auditors warned. Intu shares declined as much as 16% last week, bringing their loss for the year to 83%. Its unsecured bonds due in 2022 fell 7 pence on the pound to 30 pence, the lowest level on record, ...

Bloomberg Ever since mid-January, Adnan Durrani, chief executive officer of frozen-food company Saffron Road, knew the coronavirus outbreak was poised to create a spike in demand. For the past six weeks, his factories have been running at full capacity in order to keep items like frozen chicken pad thai and sesame ginger udon bowls on the shelves at Kroger, Walmart ...

Bloomberg American Dream — the New Jersey mega-mall that was slated to open its stores and a huge water park on Thursday — will postpone its grand opening, another setback for the $5 billion project. Some entertainment elements at the mall, such as the indoor ski slope and ice rink, that had opened late last year will close starting from ...

Bloomberg Salvatore Ferragamo SpA is delaying or cancelling capital investments not considered “fundamental” as the coronavirus outbreak hammers demand, though the company sees green shoots of recovery in China, the biggest market for luxury goods. “Visibility on the impact of Covid-19 is still very low for both turnover and earnings,” Chief Executive Officer Micaela Le Divelec Lemmi said on a ...

Bloomberg The world’s wealthiest family moved $48 billion of Walmart Inc stock to a different holding company in an action that may signal future share sales and bolster their philanthropy. Walton Enterprises LLC, the main investment entity of the retailer’s founding clan, transferred about 15% of Walmart’s outstanding shares to the Walton Family Holdings Trust, according to regulatory filings. The ...

Bloomberg Henkel AG, the German shampoo maker, and buyout firm KKR & Co are among a small group of suitors proceeding to the second round of bidding for Coty Inc’s professional hair and nail products business, people familiar with the matter said. Advent International and a separate consortium of Cinven weren’t chosen to advance to the next round after they ...

Bloomberg Target Corp has joined Kroger Co in limiting purchases of items like hand sanitiser and disinfecting wipes in response to widespread stockpiling due to the coronavirus. Target began restricting customers to six items per person, spokeswoman Danielle Schumann said. Signs posted in stores say the move is “due to high demand.” Kroger made a similar move earlier this month, ...

Bloomberg A few years ago, Amazon.com Inc’s quick delivery team debated doing something radical for the e-commerce giant: asking shoppers to consider the environment. The team building Amazon’s Prime Now same-day delivery service knew that the quickest delivery options tended to be the worst for the planet. A guaranteed one-hour delivery window sometimes meant sending couriers in mostly empty vehicles ...