Retail

Bloomberg Lululemon Athletica Inc. has named Calvin McDonald to lead the surging yogawear brand as it looks to rehabilitate its culture and expand its international presence. McDonald, a 46-year-old native of Canada who most recently served as a top executive at makeup chain Sephora, steps into the CEO role vacated by Laurent Potdevin, Lululemon said in a statement. Potdevin departed …

Bloomberg Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, is pulling the plug on Ivanka Trump, the purveyor of womens’ fashion. After a year and a half of sporadic controversy over potential conflicts of interest, Trump, a White House adviser, said that she would wind down the company. She made the decision after some big-name department stores dropped her brand, but said in …

Bloomberg Walmart Inc.’s employees have adopted money-management tools from Even Responsible Finance Inc. at a faster pace than anticipated, prompting a fresh round of funding to expand the fintech startup. More than 200,000 Walmart employees in the US use Even’s app to manage their finances or access their wages early, the Oakland-based startup said, and almost half of that group …

Bloomberg Switzerland’s Lindt & Spruengli AG plans $200 million US investment offensive to further challenge Hershey Co. and Mars in that market. The maker of Lindor chocolate balls is expanding a plant in Stratham, New Hampshire, over the next four years, constructing high-tech production lines for premium chocolate, the company said. The site will eventually have more than 1 million …

Bloomberg Toys ‘R’ Us’s fired workers last week won the right to negotiate for severance money in bankruptcy court, in an unusual victory. They may end up getting nothing. Before much money can be paid to the retailer’s 33,000 former employees, senior lenders need to collect about $1 billion. For now, the staffers can try to tap a pool of …

Bloomberg Tesco Plc is readying a new chain of discount stores in the company’s most direct offensive on Aldi and Lidl to date. The UK’s largest retailer is recruiting for staff to work in the new store format at sites in Immingham in northeast England and in Chatteris, about 80 miles north of London, according to postings on the LinkedIn …

Bloomberg Papa John’s International Inc.’s board approved a so-called poison-pill plan to fend off any attempt by founder John Schnatter to gain a controlling interest as the pizza chain seeks distance from its controversial namesake. Schnatter, 56, resigned as chairman earlier this month after reports surfaced that he used a racial slur and graphic depictions of violence against minorities during …

Bloomberg Sports Direct International Plc investors have been left counting the cost of billionaire founder Mike Ashley’s wheeling and dealing. The UK sportswear retailer reported a 73 percent decline in full-year pretax profit. The drop was mainly due to a one-time charge of 85.4 million pounds ($111 million) related to its investment in struggling department store chain Debenhams Plc. Sports …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc.’s fourth annual Prime Day event lured shoppers from around the world, highlighting the promotion’s evolution from a rummage sale of obscure products to 36 hours of discounts on major brands such as Samsonite luggage, Callaway golf clubs and General Mills cereals. It’s a sharp contrast from the first Prime Day in 2015, when customers kvetched on social …

Bloomberg Shake Shack Inc. is stirring up shares of SSI Group Inc. after the burger chain founded in New York selected the upscale Philippine retailer as its local partner. News that the world famous ShackBurger will be served in Manila beginning in the spring of 2019 sent shares of licensee SSI rising as much as 18 percent, the most in …