Retail

Bloomberg US retail sales rose by less than forecast in August following an upwardly revised July gain as purchases of automobiles and clothing fell, suggesting households took a breather from spending. The value of overall sales climbed 0.1 percent from the prior month after a 0.7 percent increase in July, Commerce Department figures showed. The median forecast of economists surveyed …

Bloomberg Elf Beauty Inc. is “just getting started,” according to CEO Tarang Amin. The low-price beauty brand has “tremendous white space opportunity” and there are multiple avenues to take — and the company’s ready to back with investments in marketing, Amin said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “Any retailer we go into, we are among the most …

Bloomberg Legal & General Group Plc completed a $5.7 billion buy-in with the British Airways pension scheme in what it says is the largest-ever deal of its kind in the UK. The deal covers almost 22,000 pensioners and it includes the conversion of existing longevity insurance into a so-called bulk annuity. The company expects to announce further transactions in the …

Bloomberg As Metro AG moves towards selling its retail unit to focus on wholesaling, one of its first steps is to weigh the fate of those operations in China. The company said that it’s putting Real, the struggling domestic big-box chain, up for sale. Dusseldorf, Germany-based Metro is also reviewing options for its Chinese Cash & Carry operations, people familiar …

Bloomberg Billionaire Mike Ashley said he and his Sports Direct International Plc were “stabbed in the back by shareholders” who failed to support former Chairman Keith Hellawell. Hellawell resigned this week at the company’s annual meeting after proxy firm Glass Lewis accused the board of “poor governance” and urged shareholders to vote against his re-election. The company has long been …

Bloomberg Hermes International reported record first-half profitability as the maker of $10,000-plus Birkin handbags benefited from brisk sales in China, a trend that shows no sign of easing off even as stock prices slump in the Asian nation. Recurring operating income amounted to 34.5 percent of sales, up 0.2 point, the Paris-based company said in a statement. Analysts predicted 34.4 …

Bloomberg Schools, hospitals and governments have quickly embraced Amazon.com Inc. as a go-to source for supplies, propelling the company’s three-year-old business platform into a $10 billion annual enterprise. Its success may soon provide as much revenue as the Amazon Web Services cloud-computing division and its digital-advertising services. The e-commerce giant likely will keep expanding the business service internationally — currently …

Bloomberg Amazon.com said sales from its business-to-business platform hit an annualised rate of $10 billion globally as it adapted its online retail operations for consumers into an international enterprise serving offices, hospitals and factories. The Seattle-based internet giant launched Amazon Business in the US in 2015 and reached $1 billion in sales a year later. It now operates in eight …

Bloomberg China’s Anta Sports Products Ltd. is gearing up for the Beijing Winter Olympics four years from now with a 4.7 billion-euro ($5.5 billion) approach for one of the world’s biggest makers of ski equipment. Amer Sports Oyj of Finland, which owns the Atomic and Salomon brands, confirmed a Bloomberg News report that it has received takeover interest from an …

Bloomberg Walmart Inc., pinched by the worsening shortage of truckers, plans to double its spending on attracting and retaining drivers by year-end. The retailer, whose private fleet of 6,500 trucks is one of the largest in the nation, will offer referral bonuses of up to $1,500, shorten the on-boarding process for new hires by more than a month and broadcast …