Food
With “Your own car while you shop for groceries!”, Lidl proudly presents its new car sharing service in Germany. Fifty stores in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia will feature the service, starting in September.
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German retail giant Metro is satisfied with the results so far in its fiscal year 2017/18, but sees the need to take measures in the difficult Russian market.
Fashion
The Danish Bestseller group has taken a significant stake in German fashion platform About You. A capital increase of some 250 million euros should enable further growth of the online retailer.
German sportswear giant Adidas says it wants to strengthen its bond with small-scale retailers after they claimed Adidas is too aggressive in pushing its web shop, especially as they feel the brand is favouring large international chains as well.
General
There may be an alliance in the making between the two largest German department store chains. Canadian Hudson's Bay, owner of Kaufhof, is in talks with Signa Holding, which acquired Karstadt in 2014.
Furniture
German investment group Rocket Internet has brought yet another one of its ventures to the stock exchange. Following Zalando, HelloFresh and Delivery Hero, it was online furniture store Home24's turn to raise investments for growth acceleration this way.
German department store chain Karstadt is to open two stores in Berlin, that aim to reinvent themselves as a "networked marketplace". It will be the first new Karstadt department stores in the German capital for thirty years.
Starting from October, you can literally ask your smart phone which gift it wants to pick for you. Zalando and Google are collaborating on a gift-picking chat bot for the virtual Google Assistant, which is present on all Android phones.
German online retailer Zalando saw its first quarter profit completely wiped away: last year's 5.1 million euro net profit turned into a 15 million euro loss. Turnover grew 22 %, investments being the cause for both.
German fashion brand Hugo Boss managed growth in every region in the first quarter. Group turnover grew 5 % to 650 million euro, partially thanks to strong web shop sales.
Irish Smyths Toys has announced a deal with bankrupt toys giant Toys ‘R’ Us to take over all of its 93 stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Financial details about the deal were not disclosed.
Picnic Germany is highly ambitious: the Dutch online supermarket targets profit in North Rhine Westphalia within six months. Picnic is also expanding its delivery service in the Netherlands, to Noord Brabant.
Electronics
It seems a lost fight to compete with web shops, but not every retailer is simply throwing in the towel. A German household appliance seller has found an original way to entice customers.
Takeaway.com, which owns Thuisbezorgd.nl and former Pizza.be, processed another 30 % increase in orders during 2018’s first quarter. It also achieved strong growth in the highly competitive German market.
Property
Six months after entering the German market, Mitiska Reim is announcing the acquisition of a third German retail park. The Belgian retail investor has partnered with Zamberk Real Estate Ventures to renovate and manage a retail park in Braunschweig.
German discount chain Lidl will soon sell BMW cars. It has signed a deal with the German car manufacturers to ship company cars.
