Retail

  AFP British retailer Marks and Spencer said on Tuesday it will shut more than 100 stores, among them many foreign shops including its Champs Elysees branch in Paris, in order to cut costs after posting a first-half loss. M&S, regarded as a barometer of UK consumer demand, said it would close around 60 food and home stores in Britain ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Marka PJSC (DFM: MARKA), the first public joint stock retail operator in the UAE, is expanding its hospitality portfolio in partnership with Hearst Magazines International, with a second launch of the popular Harper’s BAZAAR Café located at CITY WALK Dubai. Elegant in concept, Harper’s BAZAAR Café is at the heart of Marka’s hospitality expansion plans. ...

  Rome / AFP Hard on the heels of stoking anger over plans to open a restaurant in the Vatican, McDonald’s has filed a $20-million lawsuit against Florence for blocking a proposed outlet in the city’s most revered square. The US fast-food chain said it was claiming 17.8 million euros ($19.65 million) in damages after the city rejected an application ...

  Bloomberg Luxury fashion startup Farfetch is meeting advisers about an initial public offering in New York as early as the end of next year, according to people familiar with the matter. Farfetch will appoint advisers in the coming months, the people said, asking not to be named as the details aren’t public. No final decisions have been made, and ...

  Bloomberg Britain’s retailers received a much-needed boost last month as sales grew for the first time since January. Same-store sales rose 0.7 percent compared with October last year, business advisory firm BDO LLP said in its monthly report. Sales of home furnishings led the rebound, growing 11.6 percent. The growth is welcome news for retailers, many of whom have ...

  Bloomberg TAG Heuer could report record growth in revenue as it increases market share amid a slump in the Swiss watch industry. The brand that considers itself the leader in “accessible luxury” has achieved double-digit growth so far in 2016, which may make it a “record year,” Chief Executive Officer Jean-Claude Biver said in a Bloomberg interview on Sunday ...

  Frankfurt/ AFP German sportswear group Adidas on Thursday reported a jump in third-quarter profits, lifted by a surge in sales of its own-brand trainers and apparel. The Bavarian company, which sponsors English Premier League giants Manchester United, also confirmed its improved outlook for the year, bolstered by high-profile sponsorships during the Euro 2016 football tournament and the Rio Olympics, as ...

  Bloomberg Shoprite Holdings Ltd. said Whitey Basson will retire as chief executive officer, ending a 37-year tenure that saw the company grow to become Africa’s biggest food retailer. Basson, 70, will step down at the end of December and be succeeded by Pieter Engelbrecht, the company’s 47-year-old former chief operations officer, Cape Town-based Shoprite said in a statement on ...

  Bloomberg Global consumer companies trying to find a business model for China’s burgeoning domestic market will be watching closely as one of the oldest Western brands in the country starts a new strategy. Yum! Brands Inc., which opened its first KFC restaurant in China in 1987 and also operates Pizza Hut outlets, has been losing market share thanks to ...

  Helsinki / AFP Finnish telecom equipment giant Nokia said it has managed to reduce losses but remained in the red in the third quarter after acquiring its former rival, French-American Alcatel-Lucent. The world’s former number one in handsets, which turned into a telecom equipment maker, reported a net loss of 125 million euros ($135 million) in the third quarter ...