Retail

Bloomberg Canada’s biggest printer says its latest deal opens the door to making Amazon.com Inc. a customer as the online retail giant tries to break into the fresh-food delivery business. Transcontinental Inc.’s proposed $1.32 billion purchase of Coveris Americas will bring on board several food suppliers that rely on Coveris for packaging, Chief Executive Officer Francois Olivier said. Several of …

Bloomberg Walmart Inc.’s online marketplace is getting more choosy. The retailer’s website — where third-party vendors sell their own wares — is adding far fewer sellers a month compared with a year ago, according to data tracker Marketplace Pulse. The site, which Walmart created in 2009 to compete with a similar offering from Amazon.com Inc., now includes about 18,000 sellers. …

Bloomberg After demand from China drove another quarter of rapid growth for LVMH, Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault is counting on e-commerce to help keep his luxury empire ahead of the pack. First-quarter sales rose 13 percent on an organic basis, the Paris-based owner of Sephora and Christian Dior said. That beat analysts’ average estimate of 8.5 percent and spurred …

Bloomberg Steinhoff International Holdings NV said two deals with entities related to its former chairman and biggest shareholder Christo Wiese didn’t follow proper disclosure processes, dragging the South African billionaire deeper into an accounting crisis. The agreements were made in the two months leading up to the emergence of financial irregularities that have wiped more than 90 percent off the …

Bloomberg British retailers suffered their biggest sales decline since 2008 last month as two snowstorms dubbed the “beasts from the east” kept shoppers at home. Comparable sales in midmarket stores dropped 10.1 percent in March, the second-worst month on record, business advisory firm BDO LLP said in its monthly report. Several days of subzero temperatures and extraordinary snowfall disrupted Britain’s …

Bloomberg Nine West Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy with a plan to sell some assets and reorganise others, after too much debt felled the shoe and clothing company controlled by Sycamore Partners. The Chapter 11 filing in New York listing debts of more than $1 billion. The company will use the bankruptcy to sell its Nine West and Bandolino brand …

Bloomberg SM Prime Holdings, the largest Philippine shopping mall developer, will build Ikea’s first store in the country within its retail complex, with plans for an arrangement with the Swedish furniture company at its other properties. The store will be built within SM Prime’s Mall of Asia complex in Manila, located between its convention centre and sports arena, Alex Pomento, …

Bloomberg PT Mitra Adiperkasa, the Indonesian operator of global brands including Starbucks, Zara as well as Marks & Spencer, is predicting that a recovery in consumer spending will sustain its highest revenue growth in three years. The retailer forecasts a revenue increase of 15 percent for a second year as consumers splurge more on Inditex SA’s Zara-branded clothes and Tumi …

Bloomberg Hershey Co. is spending $500 million in the hopes of producing its iconic chocolate Kisses from more sustainable cocoa. Through its so-called Cocoa for Good programme, the company will invest the funds through 2030 to support four key areas: nourishing children, empowering youth, building prosperous communities and preserving natural ecosystems. The initiative’s goals include eliminating child labor and increasing …

Bloomberg Taco Bell, increasingly focussed on global growth amid a saturated US market, is expanding Down Under. In November, the chain opened its first Australian restaurant in Brisbane, and it has exceeded management’s expectations, said Liz Williams, president of Taco Bell International. Sales are several million dollars higher than a typical unit, she said, declining to provide specifics. Now, Taco …