Retail

Bloomberg Boeing Co. landed new four orders valued at $1.5 billion for its 747 jumbo jetliners, giving life to a programme starved for sales amid waning demand for four-engine aircraft. The orders were reported on Boeing’s website this week and the identity of the customer wasn’t disclosed. The US planemaker also reported that it delivered fewer jetliners than a year …

Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retail chain, will sell 100 percent cage-free eggs in the US by 2025, joining an industry-wide shift toward a practice that’s seen as more humane. As part of the transition, Wal-Mart and its Sam’s Club warehouse chain will require that its egg suppliers adopt United Egg Producers rules or an equivalent set of …

MOSCOW / Reuters Russian holding company Sistema said it is in talks with private investors about selling a further stake in children’s goods retailer Detsky Mir. Sistema, which has said it plans to list the unit, sold a 23.1 percent stake in Detsky Mir to the Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF) for 9.8 billion roubles ($143 million) in December, valuing the …

LONDON / Reuters British retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) on Thursday reported another fall in quarterly underlying sales in its clothing division, illustrating the extent of the challenge facing its new boss. Steve Rowe, an M&S veteran of 26 years, succeeded Marc Bolland as chief executive of the clothing and food stores group on Saturday, stepping-up from the role he …

San Francisco / AFP Amazon chief executive and founder Jeff Bezos defended his company’s workplace culture and costly growth strategy in a letter to shareholders made public this week. The work atmosphere at Seattle-based Amazon became a hot topic last year after a New York Times article portrayed it as a “hurtful,” Darwinian setting in which employees were pitted against …

BANGKOK / Reuters In a downtown Bangkok mall, ripped jeans and mirror sunglasses aimed at fast-fashion teens show how Thai retailers are getting ready for the next big thing — a government stimulus package they’re betting will revive sales after years of stagnation. The goods are on sale in US brand Aeropostale Inc’s first Thai store, recently opened in a …

HELSINKI / Reuters Finland’s largest discount store chain Tokmanni Group, majority owned by buyout house Nordic Capital, said it is planning a possible stock market flotation. Tokmanni, with 156 stores, had sales of 755 million euros ($859 million) and an underlying operating profit margin of 5.8 percent last year. Sources said last year a float could value the company at …

HELSINKI / Reuters Loss-making Finnish retailer Stockmann announced the surprise departure of its chief executive, after 16 months in the job, raising questions over the company’s ongoing restructuring. Per Thelin, who will leave the company immediately, was recruited in 2014 to revive the department store and fashion chain group after its earnings fell due to a recession in Finland and …

ZURICH / Reuters For much of its 125 years selling luxury goods, Switzerland’s family-run emporium Bongenie Grieder has been the kind of place where affluent shoppers felt at ease and staff were confident they had a job for life. Then came January 2015’s ‘franc shock’ when the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) dramatic decision to lift a cap against the euro …

Reuters Department store operator Hudson’s Bay Co reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit as expenses soared and sales at established Saks Fifth Avenue stores dropped. The company’s cost of sales rose 74 percent in the fourth quarter ended January 30, while its selling, general and administrative expenses almost doubled. Saks Fifth Avenue, the company’s luxury chain, reported a 1.2 percent drop …