Electronics
Ceconomy, the holding company behind MediaMarkt and Saturn, is recovering from the corona crisis faster than expected. The German company is raising its forecasts for this financial year, although thousands of jobs are still at risk.
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Ikea will remove all non-rechargeable alkaline batteries worldwide by 2021. In this way, the furniture retailer wants to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of toxic waste.
French group Fnac Darty has an agreement with Mirage Retail Group on the sale of the Dutch electronics retailer BCC, allegedly for a symbolic sum.
Apple is pioneering a mini store in California, where customers can pick up their online orders or visit a 'Genius' by appointment. The store concept is primarily a solution for corona times.
Dutch online retailer Coolblue is continuing its German expansion. Deliveries are now also possible in the area around Cologne, while a first physical store in Germany is planned to open soon.
A floating sphere: that is what the new Apple Store in Singapore will look like. The store covers an area of around 1,580 sqm and it... floats.
Ceconomy (the former Metro branch that owns electronics chains Media Markt and Saturn) has announced a thorough restructuring, which may cause up to 3,500 jobs being cut and several stores closed all over Europe.
Dutch electronics retailer Coolblue has expanded to Germany, with an e-commerce pilot in Düsseldorf launched today. The aim is to open physical stores soon as well.
Two milestones in one for Dutch electronics retailer Coolblue: its new store in Brussels is its largest so far, and the first in (partly) French-speaking territory.
As Ceconomy (the owner of the MediaMarkt and Saturn chains) was forced to close its stores for a while due to the corona crisis, it suffered huge quarterly losses and had to ask for state aid in Germany.
Fnac Darty is the first large French company to receive state aid to weather the coronavirus crisis. The electronics and multimedia group borrowed half a billion euros with a state guarantee.
Amazon has decided to delay its annual discount day Prime Day due to the corona crisis, a decision that may cost the company some 300 million dollars (270 million euros).
Ceconomy, the parent company of electronics chains MediaMarkt and Saturn, is in talks with the German national bank about obtaining two billion euros in state aid. The German retailer claims to need the support due to the corona crisis.
A French judge has imposed a record fine of 1.1 billion euros on Apple, which would have disadvantaged independent distributors with price-fixing and exclusion.
Fnac Darty's turnover rose slightly in 2019, as new activities were successfully integrated. The French electronics group remains cautious for 2020.
Coolblue has raised its prices significantly and halted marketing and affiliate actions - without communication. Due to the corona crisis, it seems: the Dutch retailer is afraid a reduced production in China will cause empty shelves and acts preemptively. But is that all there is to it?
