London, United Kingdom | AFP | London luxury department store Harrods said Saturday it was taking down a statue of the late Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed and returning it to former owner Mohamed Al Fayed. Al Fayed commissioned the bronze statue, which shows his son and Diana …
Read More »Hamleys opens its largest toy store in Beijing amid Christmas debate
Beijing, China | AFP | British toy retailer Hamleys opened its largest store in the world in Beijing on Saturday, just two days before Christmas as debate played out over whether the holiday should be banned in the Communist country. Christmas elves, a teddy bear parade and a curiously slender …
Read More »Target buys same-day delivery service for $550 mn
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Target said Wednesday it was acquiring same-day grocery delivery service Shipt for $550 million, helping the US retail titan step up its challenge to Amazon and its recently acquired Whole Foods supermarket chain. The retailer said it planned to combine its network of stores …
Read More »Uchumi narrows losses
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Retail chain, Uchumi Supermarkets posted a 39 % improvement in its loss position in the financial year ended June citing improved cost management. The retailer recorded a Kshs 1.7 billion loss after tax during the year, compared to a Kshs 2.8 billion in the previous …
Read More »As Black Friday nears, US stores get creative to battle e-commerce
New York, United States | AFP | The photo op with Santa Claus has long been a holiday mainstay for American children. But this year, shopping malls in several states are scheduling glamour shots for man’s best friend. As the Christmas shopping season kicks into high gear on Black Friday, the …
Read More »Alibaba profit nearly doubles on robust revenues
Shanghai, China | AFP |Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said Thursday its net profit almost doubled in the latest quarter on the back of solid revenue growth in its core shopping business and in cloud computing. Alibaba, which has made billionaire founder Jack Ma one of China’s richest men and a …
Read More »Trump renews attack on Amazon, claiming ‘jobs lost’
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Amazon, claiming the US online colossus is doing “great damage” to other retailers and destroying jobs. Trump, who has criticized Amazon in the past, offered no specific facts to back up his argument. He launched his tirade …
Read More »Leading S.African retailer Pick n Pay sheds 3,500 jobs
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | One of South Africa’s largest retailers Pick n Pay on Monday said it had cut around 3,500 jobs — 10 percent of its workforce — in a bid to curb costs in an economy battling a recession. “The voluntary severance programme is one of several …
Read More »Africa retail giants Steinhoff, Shoprite shelve merger
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African retail firms Steinhoff International and Shoprite Holdings announced Monday they had scrapped plans to merge their local assets to form the continent’s biggest retailer. The plan announced in December 2016 was geared to create a discount retailer worth over $14 billion to …
Read More »New wave of robots set to deliver the goods
Washington, United States | AFP | The robots of the future will be coming soon, rolling along at a lumbering pace with those goods you just ordered. The six-wheeled, knee-high robots from startup Starship Technologies are part of a new wave of automated systems taking aim at the “last mile” …
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