Retail

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. is in the European Union’s cross hairs because its rapid expansion may have been fueled by tax measures that slashed its costs, according to the EU official spearheading a state-aid probe into the online giant. Gert-Jan Koopman, whose department at the European Commission was responsible for slapping Apple Inc. with a $15.6 billion tax repayment order last …

Bloomberg Chinese apparel manufacturer Fujian Septwolves Industry Co. and conglomerate Fosun International Ltd. and are among suitors vying for the $717 million luxury leather goods company Bally International AG, people with knowledge of the matter said. Bally has also drawn interest from Japanese trading firm Itochu Corp. as non-binding offers came in this week, said the people, who asked not …

Bloomberg Hermes International warned that profitability probably has reached a peak and that the strong euro is set to erode 2018 sales of the company’s Birkin handbags and other luxury goods, spurring concern that the industry’s rebound may become rockier. The operating margin will probably narrow after reaching a record 34.3 percent in the first half, executives said, almost double …

Bloomberg JC Penney Co. bailed on Brazil more than a decade ago. In hindsight, sticking it out would have been the smarter move. Lojas Renner SA, the Brazilian retailer that JC Penney divested in 2005 for $230 million, is now worth $7.9 billion, an increase of more than 3,300 percent. Meanwhile, the iconic American department-store chain has seen its own …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc.’s splashy takeover of Whole Foods, complete with deep price cuts, did more than bring a surge of publicity to the chain: It boosted customer traffic by 25 percent. That’s the finding of Foursquare Labs Inc., which compiled location information during the first two days after Amazon completed its acquisition of the grocer. The data, culled from shoppers’ …

Bloomberg The crisis afflicting much of the retail industry has spared dollar stores in Canada, where industry leader Dollarama Inc. keeps opening new locations and improving profit margins. Canada’s largest dollar-store chain posted earnings that topped analysts’ estimates last quarter and raised its gross-margin forecast for the year. While the Montreal-based company added 17 net new locations, part of the …

Bloomberg Kroger Co. shares plunged after the supermarket chain abandoned its practice of offering long-term guidance, a sign it’s grappling with fierce competition in a grocery industry rattled by Amazon.com Inc.’s acquisition of Whole Foods. The decision to stop giving further-out forecasts spooked investors concerned about an increasingly cutthroat grocery industry, said Jennifer Bartashus, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “It’s …

Bloomberg Target Corp.’s announcement that it was cutting prices on thousands of products led to one unintended discount: a nearly 5 percent stock drop. The retail chain said that it spent months examining its products and promotions and was permanently lowering prices on everything from breakfast cereal to razor blades. The announcement was meant as an enticement to customers, but …

Reuters Prada SpA warned that its turnaround plan may take longer than expected as the Italian maker of $2,200 leather totes and $495 Velcro sandals struggles to keep up with rivals’ online expansion and stem a decline in sales. First-half revenue dropped 5.7 percent as the strong euro cut into tourist spending in Europe in recent months, Milan-based Prada said. …

Bloomberg The Platinum Group Pcl, whose wholesale fashion mall in Bangkok attracts about 15 million people yearly, expects booming Chinese tourism to support its retail shopping centre due to open next year. The firm is investing about $180 million in the project and is banking on the deep pockets of Chinese visitors to woo retailers, according to President Chanchai Phansopha. …