General
CEO Alan Jope thinks Unilever should widen its brand portfolio, as society diversifies and it becomes increasingly difficult to be relevant to a large number of people.
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The German ministry for the environment wants to bring an end to the destruction of unsold and returned products. Currently, four procent of all returned goods end up as rubbish.
British department store chain Debenhams is implementing an intense recovery plan with some vigour: fifty stores will have to close, thirty others will be downsized.
E-commerce continues its double-figure growth in Europe: online turnover this year is expected to climb 13 % to 621 billion euros as many people's fear to buy online is clearly evaporating.
Canadian Hudson’s Bay Company wants to leave Europe and the stock exchange. The Dutch stores are an exception and remain part of the company - for now.
Waterstones owner and private investment company Elliott Management has acquired American bookstore chain Barnes & Noble. As a result, the chain will be taken off the stock market.
Bart Van Malderen, former CEO of Belgian diaper producer Ontex, is not only competing against his former company with his own Drylock, but has become the biggest shareholder of German diaper webshop Lillydoo.
This summer, RetailDetail is offering you a glimpse into the future of shopping, with an inspirational tour in the retailhub and/or a retailhunt through Antwerp. An English language tour, open to individual subscribers, will take place on 20 August.
Despite the harsh climate for toy stores, ToyChamp is expanding rapidly in Low Countries. In the next month, the chain is to open three new stores in Antwerp (Belgium), Leeuwarden and Helmond (both in the Netherlands). More openings are still on the cards.
The list of biggest retailers in the world is dominated by American companies, with Walmart and Amazon at the top. While challengers from China are continuing to rise, Belgian-Dutch Ahold Delhaize climbes to fourteenth.
Two of Ahold Delhaize's branches have started to work more closely together: as of today, shoppers in Antwerp can collect their bol.com orders in some Delhaize supermarkets.
Kazidomi, a Belgian online platform for healthy and organic products, wants to triple its turnover this year by expanding its focus to countries like France, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
French sports retailer Decathlon is introducing registerless shopping in its Dutch stores, through a mobile scanning app that allows customers to scan and pay for their items while shopping, eliminating the need for checkout queues.
Chinese retail giant Alibaba is looking at the possibility of a flotation on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company is looking to raise billions in extra capital and become less dependent of the United States by appealing directly to Chinese investors.
Yuman in Brussels is Belgium's first shopping centre that is immersed in the circular economy. Measuring 1,000 sqm, it offers a temporary place to eight stores that focus on sustainability.
Disappointing sales figures and the high costs of store closures have impacted the results of Marks & Spencer. To finance the recent deal with online player Ocado, the British retailer will now issue new shares.
