Retail

  Bloomberg Agrium Inc., the largest agricultural retailer to US farmers, fell after the company cut its full-year profit forecast for a second time this year amid an agriculture slump that has dragged down prices for crop nutrients. Earnings in 2016 will be $5 to $5.30 a share, the Calgary-based company said in a statement. That compared with a May …

  Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and e-commerce startup Jet.com Inc. are trying to close a $3 billion acquisition as soon as Monday that will require Jet founder Marc Lore to head the retailer’s online division for several years, according to people familiar with the matter. Lore would stay in that role for longer than the two-plus years he spent at …

  Bloomberg Australian retail sales limped through June, saved only by a blast of winter weather that forced shoppers to stock up on warmer clothing and compounded by mid-year discounts. A more realistic reading of the month came in the food section, which showed even alcohol sales actually fell in June. While households got a rate cut in May, adding …

  Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in talks to buy Jet.com Inc., the e-commerce startup that began a year ago billing itself as a challenger to Amazon.com Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The discussions may ultimately result in a strategic investment rather than an acquisition, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because …

  Bloomberg The roll-out of the Polish government’s flagship welfare program hit the country’s biggest retailer with a bittersweet result last quarter, lifting sales while also pressuring it to raise wages as it struggles to hire new workers. Sales at Portugal’s Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA’s Polish Biedronka supermarket chain jumped 10.2 percent in April to June from a year earlier …

  AP If Alfred “Skip” Nichols had been a commercial airplane pilot, he probably would have been grounded long ago. Nichols, the pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed over the weekend in Texas, killing 16, was able to keep flying despite having at least four convictions for drunken driving and twice spending time in prison — pointing to …

  Bloomberg A startup online lending marketplace began offering retail investors access to individual corporate bonds for as little as 100 pounds ($132) on Monday. WiseAlpha said its online platform provides potential annual yields of 5 percent to 8 percent and is a “compelling alternative” to low-yielding savings accounts, the stock market or peer-to-peer lending, according a statement. The average …

  Bloomberg Just before the stores open in Tokyo’s Akihabara electronics district, buses pull up, unleashing Chinese tourists and their credit cards to snap up televisions, rice cookers and other gadgets. Walk into any department store and there they are, buying mascara, t-shirts and other merchandise. China’s infatuation with Japanese products is now discovering a new source of satisfaction: the …

  AP Online shoppers want their packages — now. And Amazon is spending heavily to make sure that happens. Amazon’s Prime service has, at heart, always been about free two-day shipping. The $99 annual subscription includes a variety of other goodies, but the near-instant gratification of fast, no-extra-cost delivery was the program’s original draw, and remains central to its appeal …

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. plans to roll out a redesigned version of its Apple Store mobile app for selling devices that will use a customer’s buying history to recommend further purchases, taking a page from Amazon.com Inc.’s playbook. The updated retail app could be rolled out in the next two weeks, according to people familiar with the intended revamp. It’s …