Retail

Bloomberg Marks & Spencer Group Plc Chairman Archie Norman broke with convention when he arrived at the UK retailer’s London headquarters last year, turning down a private office and positioning his desk prominently out in the open. From his perch in the engine room of a once-proud British institution that’s fallen on hard times, Norman quickly started asking questions about …

Bloomberg UK retail sales rebounded more than expected in April as the spring weather lured shoppers into stores. Sales climbed 1.6 percent from March, compared with a median estimate of a 0.9 percent gain in a Bloomberg survey. The surge was led by fuel, household goods and clothing, according to data from the Office for National Statistics in London. After …

Bloomberg It’s hard to serve a Big Mac without the bun. A truckers’ strike in Brazil over higher diesel prices has left at least one McDonald’s in Copacabana struggling to serve its customers. The last perishable food delivery received at the restaurant was May 18, manager Yladian Barbosa told O Globo newspaper. On Wednesday alone, that meant a loss of …

Bloomberg Samsonite International SA, the world’s largest branded-luggage maker, tumbled the most since 2012 after short-seller Blue Orca Capital questioned the company’s accounting and corporate governance. Samsonite concealed slowing growth with debt-funded acquisitions and inflated profit margins with dubious accounting linked to its takeovers, Blue Orca, founded by former Glaucus Research Group research director Soren Aandahl, alleged in a report. …

Bloomberg Target Corp.’s online sales push paid off in the first quarter even as profit missed forecasts, and the retailer said performance will improve further in the current period. Digital revenue rose 28 percent in the period ended on May 5, the company said. That contributed to a 3 percent lift in same-store sales, beating analysts’ average prediction, according to …

Bloomberg Big Texas-based department-store chain seeks new leader: must be willing to tackle sluggish sales, failed fashion and $4 billion in long-term debt. JC Penney Co., once again, is searching for a new chief executive after Marvin Ellison was poached by home-improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos. on May 22, a surprise exit that sent JC Penney’s stock down to historic lows. …

Bloomberg Marks & Spencer Group Plc owned up to its mistakes, saying it needs to close more stores and catch up to rivals in e-commerce as Chairman Archie Norman tries to pull the UK retailer out of a crisis that has dragged on for more than a decade. A decline in sales of food and clothing in the fourth quarter …

Bloomberg Marks & Spencer Group Plc plans to close around a third of its large UK stores over the next four years, as the retailer belatedly adapts to the rise of e-commerce. M&S will close more than 100 stores that sell both clothing and food by 2022, the company said in a statement. The London-based retailer intends to increase the …

Bloomberg A ban on mohair by dozens of clothing retailers, including Hennes & Mauritz AB and Esprit Holdings, is threatening a $117 million industry in South Africa, the world’s biggest producer of the fibre. Almost 70 clothing companies worldwide have announced they’ll stop using mohair following the release this month of video footage from twelve Angora goat farms in South …

Bloomberg As an online grocer, Ocado Group Plc has always commanded a higher valuation than traditional retailers. But last week’s US deal puts its valuation multiples squarely in-line with Amazon.com Inc., and leagues away from the likes of Tesco Plc and J Sainsbury Plc. The company’s landmark technology-licensing deal with Kroger Co. sent the shares up 44 percent, squeezing short …