Ceconomy CEO Pieter Haas leaves the holding company of German electronics chains Media Markt and Saturn with immediate effect, after another series of disappointing results.

Belgian bakery chain Le Pain Quotidien has seen its profits disappear completely last year, reaching a 6.6 million dollar loss instead - despite a slight turnover increase of 1.5 %.

Decathlon, which currently operates fourteen sports stores in the Netherlands, plans to double the number of stores in the long term. The French group targets both city shops and peripheral stores, evenly distributed.

Swedish Ikea wants to start in another dozen new markets in the coming years. In mature markets, like Belgium, the Swedish chain will cut back on its activities.

Walmart wants to know what makes your heart beat faster. Literally: the American supermarket giant has requested a patent for shopping carts that register everything from customers' heartbeats to their conversations.

To stop global warming, we all have to eat less - far less - meat. A new international study presents us with a hard choice: either the food industry has to become more sustainable, or we destroy the planet.

Australian luxury cosmetics brand Aesop has opened its first Belgian store in Antwerp. The brand is famous for its sleek store and package design and 'luxurious' prices.

A major power failure in Belgium, a distinct possibility given the inactivity of nearly all the nuclear plants in the country, would have far-reaching consequences for the distribution centres, supermarkets and food safety. Trade federation Comeos demands attention for the issue.

Russian discounter Torgservis wants to enter the German market via a Berlin-based subsidiary called TS Markt. Torgservis, founded in Siberia, plans to open "over 100" stores all over Germany.

German electronics group Ceconomy has released a profit warning: disappointing sales in its MediaMarkt and Saturn stores have caused the company to miss the profit forecast.

French retailer Leclerc is negotiating with its competitor Casino to take over "certain hypermarkets" of the Géant Casino chain. Casino recently offered up 20 of its 110 hypermarkets for sale.

Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo will come to Belgium with its largest store concept 'Foodmarkt', revealed CEO Frits van Eerd at a presentation for Jumbo entrepreneurs. The concept mixes a supermarket with a restaurant. An up-market concept may mean Jumbo would target (Ahold) Delhaize rather than Colruyt.

German discount supermarket chain Lidl has added Serbia to its list of countries: the group has opened sixteen outlets at once in the Balkan country, five of which are located in the capital Belgrado.

American department store chain Sears is suffering from heavy debt and considers all options, including a thorough reorganisation or even bankruptcy. The company's situation will become clearer later this week.

A new ecosystem in food is on the rise, where retailers, producers and service suppliers try to work together in order to better serve the customer. Paramount in this collaboration: data. We have summarised this and some of the other lessons we have learned during the first RetailDetail Food Congress in a convenient list.

Belgian shoe store chain Brantano has opened its first two 'boutik by brantano' stores, in a bid to develop into a more premium brand. The chain wants to create experience stores and expand into clothing as well.

Amazon is looking for properties in the United Kingdom to open its first British Amazon Go stores. Amazon's convenience store without cash registers is likely to get its European launch soon.

French supermarket chain Casino follows the trend and opens a shop without check-out near the Champs Elysées. In this way it becomes a French variant of the concept of Amazon Go in the United States.

Food retailers are looking to make the food chain more transparent and more efficient using blockchain technology. In Belgium, Carrefour is about to introduce a QR code to pork and poultry this year that shows the product's entire life span.

Evocative, a startup that makes packaging material based on mushrooms for Ikea, is now turning to laboratory-grown meat. The texture of mushroom stems is said to be perfect for 'growing' steak.

No need to go to Bangladesh to find harrowing working conditions and poor wages: the Clean Clothes Campaign reports that even within the European Union, in Bulgaria, seamstresses work for H&M for 98 euro a month.

British-Dutch FMGC producer Unilever has decided to remain in the United Kingdom, despite Brexit. It has cancelled its earlier decision to move its headquarters to Rotterdam and keeps its double passport.

Former EU ambassador Michel Arrion is appointed as the new head of the ICCO, the International Cacao Organisation. The Belgian's mission is to deal with the challenges of the industry, such as deforestation and child labour.

Bankrupt American toy store chain Toys “R” Us will probably be brought to life again: the planned sale of the trademark rights was cancelled and creditors now want to establish a new retail group.

Price differences between Belgian Colruyt and Dutch Jumbo can be significant, data specialist Daltix reported on the RetailDetail Food Congress. Both companies offer a lowest price guarantee, and will meet when the Dutch chain expands to Belgium next year.

The ties between China and Africa are becoming ever closer. Next up is the Nigerian Mall for Africa, which now also offers Chinese products to 17 African countries, expanding from its current British and American range.

Deliveroo's continued growth comes at a cost as losses continue to accumulate. The meal delivery company's turnover doubled last year, the losses before taxes rose to 185 million pound (200 million euro). In Belgium, working conditions are currently under investigation.

French hypermarket chain Carrefour has appointed Gérard Lavinay as the new head of its Italian branch. His successor as logistics director will be François-Melchior de Polignac. Remarkable: both gentlemen were previously in charge of Carrefour Belgium.

Dutch e-tail platform Bol.com takes another step into food deliveries: it has decided to start offering a selection of alcoholic beverages. The Ahold Delhaize subsidiary will not create an own alcoholic selection however, but rather give a platform to specialised retailers like Gall&Gall and Belgian Beer Factory.

Italian men's fashion brand Boggi Milano has opened a fifth Belgian store in Ghent. With more store openings announced in Brussels and Liège, the brand will almost double its store count in Belgium.

Italian coffee brand Lavazza has acquired Mars Drinks, a subsidiary of Mars that develops coffee vending machines and Flavia coffee capsules. Together, Lavazza wants to grow internationally.