Retail

Bloomberg The People’s Republic of Berkeley, Calif, takes pride in its leadership on all things civic and environmental. The small liberal city east of San Francisco was one of the first US cities to adopt curbside recycling. It banned styrofoam and was early to take on plastic shopping bags. Earlier this year, the Berkeley city council put on notice a …

Bloomberg Meicai, a Chinese startup that helps farmers sell vegetables to restaurants, and supermarket operator Wumart Stores Inc are among firms picked for the next round of bidding for German food wholesaler Metro AG’s $1.5 billion Chinese business, people with knowledge of the matter said. Local grocery chain Yonghui Superstores Co and Suning Holdings Group, the parent company of Chinese …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc will spend $800 million in the current quarter to reduce delivery times for top customers to one day from two, trying to revive its main e-commerce franchise and ward off greater competition. The announcement came after the online retailer reported first-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates, demonstrating the company’s focus on cloud-computing, advertising, and other high-margin businesses …

Bloomberg Carrefour SA’s growing sales of organic food helped the French retailer make up for continued weakness in its non-grocery business in the first quarter. Comparable sales rose 2.7 percent to $22.4 billion, the company said, a result that met analysts’ estimates. Growing sales of organic food are boosting Chief Executive Officer Alexandre Bompard’s effort to revamp the company’s sprawling …

Bloomberg Walmart Inc is exploring options for its Asda unit including an initial public offering after plans to combine the business with J Sainsbury Plc to create the UK’s largest supermarket chain collapsed, according to people familiar with the matter. In addition to a potential listing, the US retailer may also revisit a sale, though interest from private-equity firms has …

Bloomberg Hermes International reported its fastest quarterly sales growth in more than four years, buoyed by demand from Chinese consumers, another sign that the world’s largest luxury market is holding up. The French maker of the famed Birkin bag reported sales growth of 12 percent at constant exchange rates, beating analysts’ estimates. “This is a rock solid start to the …

Bloomberg The activist investors in Bed Bath & Beyond Inc say the retailer could unlock about $1.9 billion of value if it were to hire a new chief executive officer, improve inventory and explore selling non-core assets. Legion Partners Asset Management, Macellum Capital Management and Ancora Advisors proposed those changes and others in a 168-page report with their diagnosis of …

Bloomberg The UK’s antitrust regulator will publish its final decision on Thursday on J Sainsbury Plc’s 7.3 billion-pound ($9.4 billion) plan to buy Walmart Inc’s Asda, after attaching harsher-than-expected conditions to the deal in February. Sainsbury’s attempt to buy the grocer — which would create the biggest UK supermarket chain — looked close to collapse in February after the Competition …

Bloomberg Supermarket operator Royal Ahold Delhaize NV lowered its profit forecast due to an 11-day strike at its Stop & Shop chain in the US that crippled sales, spoiled produce and drew support from several Democratic presidential candidates. The Dutch-Belgian retailer reached a tentative agreement with five local units, allowing employees to return to work. The strike affected 246 of …

Bloomberg TCI Co is in talks with a health food maker about a potential acquisition this year that’s aimed at diversifying its production base, the company says. The company hopes consumers will be more interested in the products it makes if it has factories outside China and Taiwan, executive deputy general manager William Liao said in an interview. TCI is …