Retail

Bloomberg The milk float, a home-delivery service that evolved from horse-drawn carriages to early electric vehicles, belongs firmly in the past. Or does it? A little known Amsterdam-based online grocery company had revived the concept, but with a modern flourish. Picnic BV has a concept dubbed “Milkman 2.0” to deliver groceries using electric vehicles, focussing on less food waste and ...

Bloomberg Hudson’s Bay Co chairman Richard Baker raised his offer to take the struggling retailer private, handing a victory to minority shareholders including Catalyst Capital Group Inc that fought to derail the original bid. Hudson’s Bay said in a statement it agreed to a new bid by Baker and a group of allies, who together control the company. The offer ...

Bloomberg Just before Christmas last year, a trip to Nintendo Co’s flagship store in Tokyo would have required an hour’s wait just to get in and buy a plush Mario toy or a set of chopsticks bearing Luigi’s face. Opened in November on the sixth floor of the renovated Shibuya Parco shopping mall, the constantly packed 300-square-metre showcase exhibits the ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s retail sales posted another double-digit decline in November as visitor arrivals to the financial centre plunged. Retail sales by value retreated 23.6% in the month from a year earlier, extending the run of declines to ten months. The decline in November was slightly better than economists’ expectation and the record contraction in October. By volume, sales contracted ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc is considering opening offline retail stores in Germany, newspaper Die Welt reported, citing an interview with Ralf Kleber, head of the company’s operations in the country. Kleber didn’t specify the timing of the plan. Amazon already operates offline stores in the US and the UK, including Amazon Go supermarkets and the Whole Foods Market chain. It has ...

Bloomberg Pier 1 Imports Inc is planning a significant increase in store closings as the distressed home-furnishings chain seeks to cut costs and turn around operations. The company expects to announce the new round of shutdowns when it reports results for its third fiscal quarter next week, according to people with knowledge of the plan. The company aims to restructure ...

Bloomberg Fashion retailer Next Plc posted better-than-expected holiday sales and forecast an increase in fiscal 2021 profit in a welcome boost for the beleaguered UK retail market. Pretax profit will rise 1% to 734 million pounds ($963 million) in the year through January 2021, Next forecast in a statement. An extra week of sales next year may generate additional earnings, ...

Bloomberg LVMH, the world’s largest luxury conglomerate, plans to close a store in Hong Kong’s shopping district as overall retail sales dip amid anti-government protests, according to a media report. The decision comes after Wharf Real Estate Investment Co, the owner of the Times Square mall in Causeway Bay, refused the French retailer’s request to lower rents, the South China ...

Bloomberg New York can be harsh on foreign restaurateurs coming to town. When D&D London opened Bluebird London in Columbus Circle in September 2018, Eater described it as “New York’s worst new restaurant of 2018.” In the New York Times, Pete Wells said: “Because you are in an English restaurant, you will be curious about the English food. Because you ...

Bloomberg Reliance Industries Ltd. started testing its online shopping portal, moving a step closer to billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s goal of setting up a digital platform to take on e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. in India. JioMart, open to select customers who pre-register, promises more than 50,000 grocery products, free home delivery and a return policy that asks no questions. Labeled ‘the ...