Retail

Bloomberg Dutch vitamin maker Royal DSM NV is finding direct-to-consumer sales good for its corporate health. After years of supplying ingredients to health-food companies, DSM began dabbling with its own range of supplements to sell at retail about six years ago. The growth of the business, called I-Health, far exceeded the company’s hopes, and it’s set to turn over about …

Bloomberg Never mind being No. 1. Ed Sonshine is too busy trying to Amazon-proof his Canadian shopping-mall empire by turning them into hip urban oases. The chief executive officer of RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust has inked deals to sell 19 assets in the past four months, part of his drive to unload about C$2 billion ($1.6 billion) worth of …

Bloomberg As China’s shoppers power growth for European luxury brands, Chinese companies want to bring home some of the profits along with their Prada loafers. Fosun International Ltd. acquired a majority stake in French fashion house Lanvin for an undisclosed sum, the Shanghai-based group said. It’s the latest in a series of moves by Chinese companies to snap up iconic …

Bloomberg Subway Restaurants, facing one of the biggest sales slumps in its five-decade history, is looking to win back customers with a new incentive: $2 discounts through a revamped loyalty program. The sandwich chain will let diners use their loyalty rewards on any menu items, lifting restrictions under the current programme. The new system, which will expand to 28,500 US …

Bloomberg Uruguay’s biggest commercial real estate developer wants to take its success in malls geared for the middle class to low-income neighbourhoods in the capital, Montevideo. Estudio Luis E Lecueder is studying building two shopping centres in northern Montevideo, senior partner Carlos Lecueder, 66, said in an interview. The firm will probably start work on those projects when its Plaza …

Bloomberg Canadian retailers ended their strongest year in two decades on a down note, with a disappointing Christmas shopping season pulling back sales in December. Receipts fell 0.8 percent to C$49.6 billion in January of 2017, Statistics Canada reported. It was the biggest monthly decline since March 2016. Economists were expecting no change during the month. For all of 2017, …

Bloomberg Walmart Inc.’s battle with Amazon.com Inc. is hitting its bottom line like never before—and testing the patience of investors. The retail giant’s push to expand online operations and cut prices contributed to a record-low operating margin last quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The profit measure narrowed to 3.3 percent, sparking concerns that Walmart’s long-enviable financial cushion is …

Bloomberg Yum! Brands Inc.’s KFC warned that a supply-chain breakdown that has shut more than half of its 900 UK outlets would persist for the rest of the week, continuing to deprive fans of their fried-chicken fix. KFC said it’s working with new logistical partner Deutsche Post AG to solve a problem that began over the weekend, leaving only 430 …

Bloomberg Home Depot Inc. sales got another shot in the arm from the US housing boom last quarter, with an extra boost from hurricane-recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and Southern states. A push by Americans to fix up their properties—using money generated by rising home values—helped lift the retailer’s same-store sales by 7.5 percent. That beat analysts’ prediction of 6.5 …

Bloomberg Grocer Albertsons Cos. plans to buy drugstore owner Rite Aid Corp. in a deal that would accelerate the remaking of the US retail and health-care industries. Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons plans to acquire the parts of Rite Aid that are left over after a separate sale of nearly 2,000 stores, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing the companies’ chief executive …