General

Dutch chains HEMA and Albert Heijn have announced the first locations where they will test a combined store concept. This autumn, Rotterdam and Utrecht will see the first stores in which both chains share the floor.

Game store chain Game Mania (which has 75 stores in Belgium and the Netherlands) wants to increase the speed with which it is closing its stores, as the fast-growing web shop makes regular stores obsolete. Speciality stores do still have a future, others will have to close.

During the first quarter of its current fiscal year, German FMCG giant Henkel performed slightly below expectations. The glue division and care products were particularly affected by difficulties.

FMCG giant Unilever saw its turnover from e-commerce grow by 47 % to 2.5 billion euro. E-commerce now represents almost 5 % of the group's total turnover.

Belgian start-up Cowboy has set its sights on Europe: the opening of an experience store in Brussels is the prelude to an international expansion with the Netherlands, France and Germany as its first targets.

In 2020, RetailDetail will launch ‘The Future of Shopping’ in the Stadsfeestzaal shopping centre in Antwerp. It will be a global first, as a 'live' lab at this scale - where retail chains and tech firms will test brand new concepts together and directly measure their results - does not exist anywhere at the moment.

French luxury icon families Arnault (LVMH) and Pinault (Kering) are springing to the aid of Notre-Dame in Paris, which has been damaged by fire. Together they have already donated 300 million euros for the reconstruction of the iconic cathedral.