Simply ask a multi-entrepreneur like Ronald van Zetten one question, and get a clear analysis of what is going wrong on the high street today. The man who is giving V&D a second lease of life as a web platform, isn't letting go of the idea of a physical store: "setting up one somewhere in town? I'm going to give it some serious thought. We're living exciting times!"

In Antwerp, Chanel has opened its first 'beauty boutique' in the Benelux. The store focuses on experience and offers perfumes, make-up, care products and sunglasses for women and men.

Belgian water producer Spadel has sold its British division to David Stockley, the current finance and administration manager of the company. The 32 employees at Brecon Carreg will be able to keep their jobs.

Michiel Witteveen, the owner of the Dutch Blokker chain, has bought the Dutch franchising rights to the fast-growing Chinese discount chain Miniso. The goal is to have three stores next year, and fifty stores in the not too distant future.

Today, Burger King has started serving vegetarian Whoppers in 25 countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands. To do so, the fast-food chain has appointed Unilever subsidiary "De Vegetarische Slager" (The Vegetarian Butcher) as its supplier.

The Dutch master franchiser of American food chain Dunkin' has announced the opening of its first Belgian location in March next year. In the long run, the retailer's ambition is to have twenty Belgian stores, as well as fifty stores in the Netherlands.

Amazon has confirmed that it will launch a new supermarket chain, beginning with a Los Angeles store that should open early next year - at the latest. With this new concept, the company is primarily hoping to seduce the average American.

Singles’ Day has once again been a great success for Alibaba: in total, consumers bought 268 billion yuan (35 billion euros) worth of goods, setting a new record. However, criticism from environmentalists of such ‘sales splurges’ is growing.

From the beginning of next year, Dutch web shop bol.com intends to expand into fashion, anticipating the arrival of Amazon.

French chain Fnac has opened its first store in Luxembourg: it was the first retailer to open its doors in the new shopping project Hamilius. Later this month, chains like Delhaize and Galeries Lafayette will follow suit.

Jumbo and Hema are going to cooperate closely in Belgium and the Netherlands. Both Dutch companies think they can profit from eachother's strengths

With the holiday season fast approaching, Lidl is launching a temporary web shop in France, which is entirely dedicated to its own cosmetics brand Cien.

Sports giant Adidas has seen its turnover further increase in the third quarter. Although net profit fell by 2%, the company is sticking by its outlook.

Chaotic scenes took place in all of Ikea's Belgian stores this morning. This was prompted by the launch of the new Markerad collection, designed by Virgil Abloh, the artistic director for Louis Vuitton.

The first half of the year has "not been good" for Marks & Spencer, the British department store group admits. With 17 % less profit and a 2 % drop in turnover, that may well be quite an understatement.

In the past quarter, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba once again saw a strong increase in turnover and profit. Flourishing cloud activities are at the basis of the growth, which was bigger than expected.

The approval of 1.6 million euros in European aid for Walloon workers Carrefour made redundant has come to a standstill: too few member states want to support the proposal.

With their long-term outlook, family businesses are having to dig in to survive the transformation affecting the retail sector, says Adam Fenwick. Department stores need to adapt, embrace new technology and reflect the needs and aspirations of their local community...

Dutch retail group Ahold Delhaize has posted robust third quarter results, doing better than analysts had expected. There was a slight growth in its home markets of Belgium and the Netherlands, and significant growths in the US and online.

Irish fashion discounter Primark achieved a 4.2 % turnover increase in the past financial year as a result of building additional retail space. On a comparable basis however, sales fell by 2.0 %.

Meal kit delivery company HelloFresh is continuing its strong growth. In the third quarter, sales once again rose sharply and the company claims that it is on track to be break-even for the full year.

Last year, Belgian supermarket group Delhaize became the largest distributor in Serbia. The chain is staving off Metro, Lidl and a number of local competitors.

This week, the European Commission opened a formal investigation into possible secret agreements between the French food retailers Casino and Intermarché. They are alleged to have coordinated their selling prices, which is contrary to EU competition rules.

80 % of companies believe their experience is top-notch, but is that really the case? In the hairdressing salon of the future at the RetailDetail retailhub, L'Oréal Business Club is illustrating what the customer journey should look like in a truly customer-focused business.

The French health app Yuka is quickly becoming popular in Belgium, with many consumers often following its advice. Consequently, large companies are starting to adjust the composition of their products in order to achieve a better 'Yuka score'.

For the first time, Belgian brewery group AB InBev is marketing beer in unlabelled bottles. Using a new technique, the logo and information such as ingredients are printed directly on the bottle. In this way, the brewer intends to easily personalise packaging.

British fashion brand Ted Baker has opened its first Belgian shop in Antwerp. For the interior, the brand was inspired by the history of the port city as a centre for diamonds.

Last weekend, Samsung opened its second Belgian Experience Store in Wijnegem (Antwerp). It is only the third to open in the Benelux, following Brussels and Utrecht. Customers are able to test products, have their devices repaired, and attend workshops.

EP Global Commerce, the investment company of Daniel Kretinsky and Patrik Tkac, is increasing its stake in the German Metro group to just under 30 %. The Czech businessman will therefore become its largest shareholder.

Samsung saw its profits fall sharply in the third quarter: in particular, the lower prices of memory chips and the trade war between the United States and China affected the electronics company.

Asset manager Meditor has made an offer of 5 pence (6 euro cents) per share for the British Carpetright group, of which it already is the largest shareholder - with around a third of the shares in its portfolio.