Furniture
Casa International, owned by the Blokker family, has sold its only three-year-old distribution centre in Olen. The retail chain is suffering heavily from the corona crisis.
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In the autumn of this year, all of Jysk's German stores currently called Dänisches Bettenlager will be renamed Jysk. The Danish furniture retailer has already done the same in Austria.
The Belgian family business Facq, a specialist distributor of bathrooms and heating, is being taken over by GC-Gruppe, a German sector partner. The Facq family will remain a minority shareholder.
The Scandinavian design brand Ferm Living changes hands: Belgian investment group Vendis Capital sells its majority stake to Maj Invest Equity. The label had been in Belgian hands for five years.
After seventy years, Ikea will stop publishing its paper catalogue. "Times change", the company says, speaking of an "emotional but rational decision".
After creditors had previously agreed to the reorganisation plan of decoration chain Casa International, the Commercial Court has now also given its approval.
The corona pandemic has caused a digital acceleration at Ikea. The retailer managed to save the furniture during the lockdowns thanks to the roll-out of click & collect services.
Inter Ikea, master franchiser of the Ikea stores, saw its profit grow by 13% last year, exceeding 2 billion euro. Consumers spend more on furniture in times of corona, and margins increased.
Ikea will soon launch a remarkable international campaign called 'BuyBackFriday'. It gives customers the opportunity to exchange their old Ikea furniture for vouchers. Critics see it as a publicity stunt.
French decoration chain Maisons du Monde has opened its 23rd Belgian store, in the centre of Antwerp. The retailer adds more services and brings the online world to the physical store.
Ikea announced retail sales of 35.2 billion euros in the financial year to September. That is 1.5 billion less than a year earlier, despite online growth of 60%. Nevertheless, this is a strong performance according to the furniture chain.
Ikea is to open a second-hand store, where only used and refurbished furniture from the home interior chain is sold. The new store concept is intended to help the Swedish retailer with its sustainability ambitions.
Terence Conran, the founder of interior design chain Habitat, passed away at the age of 88. The British designer and businessman headed an empire that spanned everything from retail to restaurants.
JYSK achieved a record turnover of 4.1 billion euros in the past financial year 2019/2020. This represents a 7.6% growth, thanks to the corona crisis: people invested in their homes for their staycation.
Ikea is ready for a "green recovery" after the Covid-19 crisis. The CEO of Ikea Belgium has written an open letter, calling for cooperation and "sustainability as a fully-fledged business model". He demands that recovery plans take into account the climate crisis as well.
Ikea has said it wants to reimburse the state aid the company received in nine countries, including Belgium, during the coronavirus crisis.
