Retail

Bloomberg Starbucks has sought every means to fuel its growth while fending off smaller, lower-cost rivals like Dunkin’ Donuts. And a push to lease stores, rather than own them, may be part of the answer. The two companies have vied for foot traffic to maintain same-store sales growth, which for Starbucks Corp. is at its lowest level since 2009. But …

Bloomberg Shares in Just Eat Plc fell the most in 20 months despite the food-delivery company beating revenue estimates, after concerns over future spending and acquisition costs. Just Eat’s full-year 2017 revenue grew 45 percent to $755 million, with underlying earnings up 42 percent to 164 million pounds. International revenue grew 75 percent, representing 44 percent of group revenue, and …

Bloomberg Walmart Inc. will start offering prepared meals at its stores for the first time, a move that could help the nation’s biggest grocer sell more food while siphoning customers from restaurant chains. Ten different meals are now available in 250 stores, and the programme will expand to 2,000 locations by year’s end, Walmart executives said. The company also is …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc.’s data services division is recruiting for several positions in Argentina, signalling the online retailer is expanding its presence in Latin America beyond Mexico and Brazil. The Seattle-based company is advertising for eight full-time positions for its Amazon Web Services cloud-computing business. The job postings on Amazon’s company website include a senior consultant on migration, sales account managers …

Bloomberg After the strongest holiday-shopping season in more than a decade, investors have grown increasingly impatient with retailers that didn’t enjoy the good fortune. Shares of J.C. Penney Co. and Foot Locker Inc. tumbled in the wake of lukewarm results during the fourth quarter, which included the crucial Christmas season. The chains both posted weaker-than-expected comparable sales, a key benchmark. …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. has agreed to buy connected-doorbell startup Ring Inc. for about $1 billion, a person familiar with the matter said. The move helps Amazon expand further into the consumer market, including providing security for package deliveries. JPMorgan Chase & Co. advised Ring on the sale, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is …

Bloomberg HNA Group Co. is planning to cut 100,000 jobs, or about a quarter of its global workforce, this year amid a liquidity squeeze, Risk Event-Driven and Distressed Intelligence reported. The Chinese group plans to eliminate jobs in areas such as human resources, business operations and asset restructuring, REDD reported, citing the people. Job cuts will also target units that …

Bloomberg Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz sees a blessing in all the empty storefronts across the US. Facing a crush of vacancies—and the rise of e-commerce—retail landlords are beginning to cut rents, the executive said. That stands to benefit the world’s largest coffee chain, which has more than 14,000 US locations. “Over the last few weeks, I have been in …

Bloomberg EBay Inc., operator of the namesake online marketplace, is close to a deal for the Japanese assets of e-commerce site Qoo10, a person familiar with the matter said. The San Jose, California-based company is buying the assets from its joint-venture partner Giosis Pte, the person said, asking not to be identified as the details are private. Under the proposed …

Bloomberg Shoprite Holdings Ltd. said rising consumer confidence in South Africa could fuel higher sales growth as the continent’s biggest food retailer increased the dividend and reported market share gains in its home country. The half-year payout to shareholders will be raised by 14 percent, about in line with a year ago, Shoprite said. That followed a six-month period in …