Retail

Bloomberg As the largest US retail bookseller tries to enact a turnaround, some investors may be losing their patience. Barnes & Noble Inc., which saw same-store sales drop 5.4 percent in the latest year, said it’s expecting that measure to improve this year. Double-digit declines in gifts, music and movies drove also down comparable sales in the fourth quarter ended ...

Bloomberg Naspers Ltd. has put aside the proceeds of share sales in Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. and India’s Flipkart to pay for new investments due to the abundance of opportunities in its preferred media and technology markets. Africa’s biggest company by market value raised $9.8 billion in March by selling a 2 percent stake in Tencent — its ...

Bloomberg The US Supreme Court freed states and local governments to start collecting billions of dollars in new sales taxes from online retailers, overturning a ruling that had made much of the internet a tax-free zone and put traditional retailers at a disadvantage. News of the ruling caused shares of Internet retailers including Amazon.com Inc. and Wayfair Inc. to fall. ...

Bloomberg Tesco Plc racked up its 10th consecutive quarter of growth and cut prices in a pre-emptive strike against rivals preparing to challenge its role as the UK’s largest retailer. The supermarket operator has lowered prices on its own-brand meat, fruit and vegetables, countering reductions promised by J Sainsbury Plc as part of its planned acquisition of Walmart Inc.’s Asda ...

Bloomberg Kering tapped an unknown designer who worked at luxury rival LVMH’s Celine to revamp the Italian handbag-maker Bottega Veneta. The 32-year-old British designer Daniel Lee will take over as creative director of the French luxury company’s third-largest brand in July. He’s succeeding Tomas Maier, the German designer who built Bottega Veneta into a $1.5 billion business but one whose ...

Bloomberg Kraft Heinz Co. is considering a sale of children’s milk drink brand Complan in India, which could fetch about $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Kraft Heinz is working with an adviser to gauge interest in the business, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. The brand could attract ...

Bloomberg Debenhams Plc plunged as much as 20 percent after the British department-store owner, struggling to compete with online rivals, cut its profit forecast for the third time this year and reined in spending on turnaround efforts. The latest warning deepens a UK retail crisis that has claimed longtime fixtures of the country’s shopping streets such as BHS and prompted ...

Bloomberg Google is investing $550 million in cash in China’s JD.com Inc. as the US search giant pushes deeper into online commerce. Alphabet Inc.’s Google will buy newly issued Class A shares at $20.29 per share, equivalent to $40.58 per ADS, the companies said in a joint statement. The pair plan to explore joint development of retail solutions in regions, ...

Bloomberg The former boss of top French supermarket chain Carrefour SA walked away from a multi-million-euro payment after the country’s economy minister denounced his package as exorbitant. Former Chief Executive Officer Georges Plassat decided to waive his right to a non-compete fee valued at 4 million euros ($4.6 million) because of the “misunderstanding” surrounding the award, the company said in ...

Bloomberg Geoffrey the Giraffe has gone from the morgue to the hospital. Toys ‘R’ Us, the toy retailer that’s liquidating in bankruptcy, found a New Jersey children’s hospital that was willing to take the 16-foot tall statue of the African mammal that stood in the lobby of its headquarters. The chain has held going-out-of business sales at its stores and ...