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Amazon reached its highest profit ever thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic: it sold 40 % more than the year before, enabling profit to double to 5.2 billion dollars (4.4 billion euros).
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Even though Belgian restaurants, bars and non-food stores have been allowed to reopen for a long time, consumption has not yet recovered to pre-lockdown levels.
In response to the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the Belgian government has decided to adopt strict rules when it comes to shopping. 'Fun shopping' is banned: store visits need to be done with a face mask, alone and for maximum half an hour.
This weekend, electric car brand Polestar opens its first Spaces in the Benelux. 'Spaces' are not simply stores: buying a car is impossible, rather they are inspirational places with a digital focus.
The Belgian government is enforcing the wearing of face masks in shopping streets, starting this weekend. The Netherlands are still divided over the issue, despite the dramatic resurgence in the number of Covid-19 cases.
The Covid-crisis accelerates the reorganisation plans at Marks & Spencer: the British retailer wants to make three years of progress in one year, at the cost of another 950 jobs.
Adevinta has purchased eBay's classified ads department. The online daughter of Norwegian media group Schibsted now gets a strong foothold in the Benelux, through 2dehands.be and marktplaats.nl.
Marcel Boekhoorn is dropped from the board of directors at Dutch retailer Hema: the last link between former owner and the chain has been severed.
More and more countries make face masks mandatory in stores: England joins the group on 24 July, France on 1 August. Even notorious opponents Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are now arguing for the face covering.
The European Union imposes conditions on EssilorLuxottica's acquisition of Grandvision (the parent company of Pearle and Eye Wish): the merged company will have to divest stores in Italy and in the Netherlands and/or France.
The decision to make mouth masks compulsory in all shops is widely supported within the Belgian retail sector, but shopkeepers are not willing to act as policemen and reject sanctions.
To support the company's further European expansion, Ace & Tate raised over 14 million euros. The money will be used to open sixteen new stores.
Ahold Delhaize joins the battle for Hema and undertakes a new attempt to incorporate the Dutch department store chain.
The corona crisis has caused an acceleration in e-commerce, but that acceleration had already started last year. In 2019 online sales in Europe grew by 14.2%, this year an increase of 'at least' 12.7% is expected.
Retail sales in the eurozone recovered particularly well in May, when many countries eased lockdowns. Eurostat figures show this.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, is richer than ever before: a year after his divorce, which was the most expensive divorce in history, he breaks his own record again.
