The American department store chain Kohl's is on the radar of two takeover candidates. After a consortium supported by the activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP, Sycamore Partners is reportedly also interested.

German discounter Aldi has ended its partnership with Deliveroo for the home delivery of groceries in the United Kingdom. The chain sees a more profitable future for click & collect in its own stores.

Flash sale specialist Veepee has a new webshop: all users across Europe will encounter the same platform from now on. In the future, a platform for second-hand sales should be incorporated.

Fake or misleading reviews are everywhere: nearly three-quarters of European websites violate the rules with unreliable, or in any case questionable, reviews. The European Union want to crack down on the issue.

Organic, local food, preferably produced in a short-chain: during the outbreak of the Covid-pandemic, Belgians were overwhelmingly drawn to that idea. But as Covid-anxiety has subsided and inflation is peaking, they have turned their backs on their good intentions just as quickly.

FMCG giant Unilever has announced it will not attempt a new bid for GlaxoSmithKline's consumer division, after its previous bid worth sixty billion euros was refused.

Meal delivery company Deliveroo has had an exceptionally strong 2021, even growing in the forth quarter despite the high basis of comparison in 2020.

Dutch non-food discounter Action has reached an enormous milestone, by opening its 2000th store in Prague. Further expansion, to a tenth country, is coming soon.

The Hungarian government has frozen the price level of seven basic food products for three months, in a response to the spiralling inflation.

E-commerce giant Amazon plans to open a physical fashion store where algorithms will suggest what customers should try on. The first trial store, 'Amazon Style', would be located in California. Of course, (almost) everything will happen through an app.

Morrisons will allow its employees to work four days a week for six months, which is supposed to be better for their well-being and for the environment. Along with Unilever, the British supermarket chain is following up on positive results from an earlier Icelandic trial.

Opening a store in Greenwich, Aldi is the first discounter to offer the 'just walk out' shopping experience in the United Kingdom. The store had been trialled by the discounter's staff over the past few months.

Ahold Delhaize subsidiary Bol.com has launched a French-language version of its website and is increasing the number of local sellers, to fuel its Belgian offensive. Until now, Bol.com was only available in French through an app.

2021 was "an exceptional year" for Dutch retailer Albert Heijn: the Ahold Delhaize subsidiary lifted its market share in the Netherlands to 35.9 %, and its Belgian turnover over one billion euros.

"2021 was a highly successful year for Hugo Boss", CEO Daniel Grieder said. In the fourth quarter, the German fashion label's turnover grew by 51 %, proving to the company that its renewal strategy is catching on.

Brand manufacturers Nestlé and Ad van Geloven (Mora) are currently no longer supplying products to Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn. The reason for this is disagreement about price increases that the producers want to implement.

Luxury brand Prada has published strong results: after the difficult pandemic year 2020, sales of handbags and clothing rebounded, with revenue growth of 41 %.

German retailer Metro is looking for a buyer for its Belgian branch, which has been haemorrhaging money for years. Seventeen stores are up for grabs. Analysts think the most likely buyers are two Dutch retailers.

With the launch of Vuna, a plant-based alternative to tuna, Nestlé is taking a new step in its protein transition. Vegan substitutes for shrimps and eggs will soon follow: "We want to be part of the solution."

Walmart, too, is preparing itself for the metaverse: the American retail giant wants to launch its own cryptocurrency and sell virtual products as NFTs. It has made seven trademark applications to enable this.

Unilever has set its eyes on the consumer division of pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). It could be the largest acquisition ever for the multinational, but a deal is by no means certain.

After the departure of operational director Dieter De Waegeneer, Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize is changing the structure of its executive committee. Three new positions will be added.

In New York, a rather remarkable law may be introduced: all large fashion companies selling clothes in the state would have to expose their supply chains and demonstrate the efforts they are making to improve their environmental and social impact.

How can retailers respond to the NFT hype? Selfridges has the answer: it is the first physical retailer to sell NFTs: in this case, digital editions of the optical illusion art by Hungarian artist Victor Vasarely.

Hunkemöller has opened an official webshop in the United States. American customers will be able to access the entire Dutch lingerie brand's collection.

Lidl continues to grow strongly internationally, thanks to store openings and the roll-out of new services. Profit is also increasing. However, the discounter does not yet seem ready for further steps in e-commerce.

The Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth (also known as Milieudefensie) is giving 29 large companies, including Ahold Delhaize, FrieslandCampina and Unilever, three months to present a well-developed and viable climate plan. If they fail to do so, the Dutch climate organisation threatens with lawsuits.

The shelves at the first British store of Russian discounter Mere remain remarkably empty. Even in the run-up to Christmas, most of the everyday products were unavailable.

In the last four months of 2021, Asos saw its sales growth slow down significantly, due to ongoing logistical constraints and increased uncertainty caused by the Omicron variant.

The rapid growth of quick commerce may significantly impact the business model of traditional supermarkets. Analysts anticipate a wave of consolidation and more joint ventures.