Furniture
A global first for the Netherlands: the Ikea store in Groningen is the first where the chain totally redesigns its lay-out and arranges items by price. The store also aims at selling 'full experiences', rather than single pieces of furniture.
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DIY giant Kingfisher will be getting a new CEO next autumn: Thierry Garnier. The Frenchman will be succeeding Véronique Laury, who stepped down this spring.
South African holding Steinhoff International demands at least 53 million euros from its former CEO Markus Jooste. The group believes he personally shares responsibility for the accounting scandal that nearly destroyed Steinhoff.
Due to continuous problems with Matratzen Concord, Dutch bed selling chain Beter Bed is looking into a sale of its German branch.
French Maisons du Monde has announced some ambitious plans: by 2024, the furniture and decoration chain intends to double its turnover, reaching two billion euros.
Ikea has launced an app with which customers can place products in their own house using augmented reality, then buy the items online. This means customers do not need to go to suburban physical stores as often, reducing the stress on environment and mobility.
Danish home decoration store chain Jysk has announced some ambitious targets during the celebrations of its fortieth anniversary. The chain wants to more than double its number of stores to 5,000 and start a worldwide expansion.
Ikea is looking to sell its products in China through existing sales platforms. Conversely, the chain will be developing its own digital marketplace for Europe.
Ikea has commissioned the design of a fully white and transparent version of its logo, in order to better meet the requirements of online communication and e-commerce. That does not mean the famous yellow and blue logo is dead and buried, however.
Schmidt Groupe, one of France's main kitchen producers and sellers, has appointed Laurent Blum as its new general director. His main focus is the future of the group's two brands, Schmidt and Cuisinella.
This week, Ikea has opened its first city centre store in Paris. The Swedish chain has been experimenting with smaller store concepts for a while now, in order to respond to the growing competition from e-commerce - albeit with mixed results...
Ramphastos Investments, the investment company that owns Hema, has converted the debts of the Dutch chain into shares. The worth of the deal amounts to 103 million euros.
French decoration chain Maisons du Monde has opened its own hotel in Nantes, where each room will showcase a different style from the chain's product offer.
Furniture chain Ikea wants to open a small city store in Brussels city centre, Ingka Group CEO Jesper Brodin says. However, the retailer wants to test first which concepts would work best in such a store.
Ikea is continuing its plans to rent out furniture. Customers can buy them through a leasing model and simply return them after use. In 2020, the Swedish chain will be trying out the new model in 30 countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands.
The Dutch Blokker family has sold its loss-making retail company to current CEO Michiel Witteveen. This has been confirmed by Blokker Holding.
