RetailDetail telex: Delhaize has opened its largest store yet

11:32: Pizza chain Domino’s has started delivering pizzas with drones in the Netherlands. The pilot, on a beach near Amsterdam, was also designed to draw attention to the company’s “Order Anywhere” option.

09:47: Sports giant Nike has performed way below analysts’ (and its own) expectations in the past quarter. It had expected to come away from the Covid-19 lockdown unscathed, but had to admit a 38 % quarterly loss. For the full financial year (ending 31 May) the turnover drop was only 4 %.

News telex 25 June

16:25: RetailDetail presents a new book: The Future of Department Stores outlines the world of European luxury department stores, a sector that faces disruption even more than other retail sectors. (Dutch version)

16:15: Jumbo Foodcoach, an app that aims to help people make responsible food choices in a personalized way, is now available not only to top athletes but also to the general public. (Dutch version)

15:55: Tomorrow morning, Coolblue will open its flagship store on Avenue Louise in Brussels, the second of six stores that the retailer wants to open this year and also the largest Coolblue store of all.

15:15: Delhaize will roll out the Mr. Georges delicatessen concept to its stores. Delhaize Genval has already opened, Molière (Ixelles) and Waterloo will follow at the beginning of September, Alsemberg is also planned. (Dutch version)

12:10: There is a shortage of shrimp in the supermarkets: the animals are not peeled because Moroccan peeling stations are understaffed – a consequence of strict corona measures.

11:02: The ailing fashion group FNG asks the Flemish government for even more investments. The regional investment company PMV has already invested a lot of money in FNG (a fifth time at the beginning of this year), but the fashion group is now asking for an extra effort to keep its head above water. (Dutch version)

10:31: Trade federation Comeos is also making a switch: Erwin Van Osta is the new chairman. The successful entrepreneur (Hubo, Veritas) succeeds McDonald’s-CEO Stephan De Brouwer. (Dutch version)

09:47: Retail Concepts, the holding above a.o. A.S.Adventure, has a new managing director. Dominique Motte leaves the company, Bea De Beuckelaar (currently purchasing director) takes over. (Dutch version)

09:05: Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize has opened its largest store yet in Schmiede (Luxembourg). At 3,450 sqm, the store has a lot of place for innovative corners. (Dutch version)

News telex 24 June

16:43: Who wants to relieve Unilever from its tea branch (with Lipton as its flagship)? A number of private equity groups and a major chocolate producer, apparently. (Dutch version)

15:10: Jumbo will not be Hema’s new owner, CFO Ton van Veen says just a day after his company was one of three rumoured candidates to acquire the Dutch chain. (Dutch version)

13:25: Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s follow The North Face in its boycott against Facebook and Instagram, because they too think the company is not strong enough in its reaction to hate speech on its platforms.

12:38: Peter Agnefjäll is the new president of the board of directors at Ahold Delhaize. The Swede was Ikea‘s CEO for four years.

11:03: Amazon is going to invest twee billion dollars in green projects to reduce its huge carbon footprint. (Dutch version)

08:52: In Antwerp, Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo has opened its fourth Belgian supermarket. It was a huge success, and the long queues forced the opening to be moved forward a bit. (Dutch version)

News telex 23 June

16:57: The scandal at Belgian fashion group FNG expands and expands. Our editors have pieced together an insightful article about what we already know… and what we expect to find out sooner or later. 

16:15: Hedi Slimane has won yet another court case against his former employer Yves Saint Laurent. This time, he is awarded 700,000 euros because YSL used his pictures after permission expired.

10:33: The Belgian fashion industry lost 1.2 billion euros to Covid-19 already. Half of that turnover loss was registered in april alone, when lockdown pushed turnover figures a full 90 % lower than in April 2019.

09:21: Carrefour has accelerated its innovation efforts: after implementing its voice commerce services last week, the French chain has now opened a marketplace on its webshop where third parties kan sell their goods.

News telex 22 June

16:53: Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize says it has “learnt from the Covid crisis” and has opened 23 new stores already this year – with 30 more still to come in the second half of the year. The lockdown has only strengthened the existing trend of choosing for the convenience of proximity store, and those make up most of these 53 stores.

16:05: Is Dutch Hema already looking for a new owner, just a week after Marcel Boekhoorn was ousted by creditors who swapped debts for shares? Three possible paths have been rumoured already: Blokker, Jumbo… or Boekhoorn again. (Dutch version)

15:17: Two Colruyt supermarkets remained closed on Saturday morning because its employees were not all that impressed with the anti-coronavirus measures that management is taking. (Dutch version)

14:41: Colruyt is going to place mobile payment terminal at all 208 pick-up points of its Collect & Go service. These new terminals will not print out paper tickets any more, meaning a reduction of 16,000 kilos in paper waste. (Dutch version)

13:12: Brantano is not being granted a rent reduction by retail real estate owners Retail Estates, unlike the vast majority of other companies in Retail Estates properties. “We were not allowed to check their accounts, so we draw our own conclusions”, the company said. (Dutch version)

12:05: French baby store chain Orchestra Prémaman has a new owner. Or rather: an old owner returns, as founder Pierre Mestre retakes control after a thorough reorganisation.

11:14: French fashion chain Celio has lost a hundred million euros due to the lockdowns in several countries, and as the banks refused to help the chain out, its French branch saw no alternative but to ask for judicial protection. 

10:02: The meeting at FNG did not bring good news: through closing thirty Brantano stores, ending the Fred & Ginger chain and some cuts at the head quarters, about a quarter of the Belgian jobs at FNG could be terminated.

09:38: Decathlon and Blokker have bought a mobile market stall that enables them to tap into a different public. The Blokker bus was spotted on the market at Zandvoort (near Amsterdam), while French sports retailer Decathlon visited the market in Schelle (near Antwerp).

09:15: The North Face is going to boycott Facebook: it is the first major brand to join a campaign that calls out the social network because of its handling of hate speech.

09:03: Breaking news is that just now Belgian fashion group FNG has called a meeting with its employees,  which is usually a first step towards a major restructuring.

09:00: Welcome to this week’s English-language RetailDetail news ticker. On this page, we will make a summary of interesting retail news from various sources, focusing on the Benelux but often venturing beyond. We will add links to articles as our editors write or translate them as soon as possible.