Retail

Bloomberg Forget Gucci and Rolex. Grocery stores, hair salons and tutoring centres may have the brightest future for Hong Kong retail as high-end malls get squeezed by forces beyond their control. That’s according to property consultants including Savills Plc, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. and CBRE Group Inc., who say that community shopping centres targeting local customers are better suited to ...

Bloomberg ANA Holdings Inc. is attempting to set up a venture in Myanmar for the third time after previous efforts collapsed, as Japan’s largest carrier seeks to capture demand in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. “We’re going to find a new partner again,” Shinya Katanozaka, chief executive officer of ANA Holdings, said in an interview in Tokyo. “Even though this ...

Bloomberg After a year to forget for British retailers, investors are betting some of the UK’s major chains now face a make-or-break holiday shopping season. Among those with the most at stake are department-store operators Debenhams Plc and House of Fraser Ltd., as well as fashion retailer New Look Retail Group Ltd., owned by embattled billionaire Christo Wiese. Despite Black ...

Bloomberg Unilever agreed to sell its margarine and spreads business to KKR & Co. for $8.1 billion, ridding the Anglo-Dutch consumer-goods giant of one of its worst-performing units as it focusses on faster-growing food and personal-care niches. The private equity firm’s purchase of the division, whose brands include Flora and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, is the biggest leveraged ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration is considering blocking planned sales by Boeing Co., Airbus SE and General Electric Co. to Iran, as the president reconsiders the 2015 deal to curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme, a person familiar with the matter said. No recommendation has yet been made to President Donald Trump and his administration is also considering letting the sales ...

Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc., working with two financial-technology startups, will allow its 1.5 million-strong US workforce to draw on their salary ahead of payday—or squirrel some of it away for a rainy day. The world’s biggest retailer has unveiled financial-planning tools designed by Even Responsible Finance Inc. and PayActiv Inc., a move that lets its employees access earned wages ahead ...

Bloomberg Target Corp. agreed to purchase grocery-delivery startup Shipt Inc. for $550 million, stepping up its challenge to Amazon.com Inc. by speeding the rollout of same-day shipping. The all-cash deal will let Target customers order groceries and other goods online, and then have the items sent directly to their doors from nearby Target stores. Buying Shipt further beefs up Target’s ...

Emirates Business Dr Brian Etemad, CEO of Tamleek Real Estate, has been selected as the ‘Real Estate Genius of the Year 2017’ by UAE’s real estate publication Property Time. The selection is in recognition of his achievements of brining real estate investment from across the globe to Dubai. In a short span of time since its inception, Tamleek, spearheaded by ...

Bloomberg As mall owners around the world seek a defense against Amazon.com Inc, Europe’s largest commercial landlord is betting the solution lies across the Atlantic. Unibail-Rodamco SE’s agreement to buy Australia’s Westfield Corp. for about $15.8 billion gives it control of mega malls in North America and London as landlords try to compete with internet retailers by focussing on the ...

Emirates Business At a recently held Enterprise Agility Award function at St. Regis Dubai, Plan B Group got awarded as fastest growing company for the year 2016-17. Held annually, the event currently has three editions held in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Harmeek Singh, Chairman of the Plan B Group, received the award from Essa Ali Alzaabi, ...