Retail

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. ...

Bloomberg Shoprite Holdings Ltd. has been found guilty of reckless lending after a South African regulator ruled that the continent’s largest supermarket chain hasn’t been properly assessing shoppers before extending credit. The retailer was fined 1 million rand ($77,425), the National Credit Regulator said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. Among other discrepancies, the Cape Town-based company took into account ...

Bloomberg Shoprite Holdings Ltd. shareholders voted in favor of the purchase of about 1.75 billion rand ($135 million) of shares from former Chief Executive Officer Whitey Basson, enabling Africa’s largest food retailer to buy at a discount to the current share price. The decision enables the Cape Town-based company to buy 8.68 million shares from Basson at 201.01 rand a ...

Bloomberg Dollar General Corp. is feeling the pressure as grocery competition heats up. Shares of the dollar-store chain fell the most in more than two months after it reported a tighter gross margin in the second quarter. Deeper discounts and steeper pay for managers contributed to the profit squeeze. The company also is grappling with rising occupancy costs and a ...

Bloomberg Best Buy Co. is bringing its same-day delivery service to more than a dozen new cities as the biggest US consumer-electronics retailer tries to keep pace with Amazon.com Inc. Starting September 6, the service will expand from 13 to 27 cities, including San Diego, Charlotte, Denver and Best Buy’s hometown region of Minneapolis/St. Paul, according to a company blog ...