Food
Intermarché wants to further strengthen its position in Belgium, both through new stores and through the expansion of existing stores. With the new Intermarché Express brand, the musketeers are aiming at the city centres.
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Furniture
Ikea wants to invest heavily in its Chinese store network. The fact that many Chinese like to visit the stores to take a nap, is alright for the Swedes.
Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt has announced it wants to open five to seven French stores per year, in order to reach a scale that would make its French activities profitable.
Cosmetics
Belgian online pharmacy Newpharma wants to double its turnover every three years, and looks to Southern Europe for growth as those markets are not mature yet.
Fashion
Spain could potentially house 250 Zeeman stores. Its 43 outlets are performing remarkably well and new ones are being opened in quick succession.
Hermès has had a strong first half of the year. The French luxury house saw its turnover rise by 15%. Growth was strongest in Asia, but improved in all regions.
AB InBev is launching its American flagship beer Bud(weiser) in the Netherlands, in an attempt to hurt its rival Heineken. At first the beer will only be offered in pubs, retailers are to follow by the end of the year.
Walmart is setting aside 8 billion yuan (1 billion euros) in the coming decade to improve the logistics of the retailer in China. The American colossus has made its ambitions in the Middle Kingdom quite clear.
General
After a questionable quarter, Hema is hoping to find greener pastures in the US and Canada. The Dutch department store company will be collaborating with Walmart, no less.
French sneaker retailer Courir is coming to Belgium with its own stores. The first two outlets will be opened in Brussels, more precisely in City 2 and at the Elsensesteenweg.
By 2030, Alibaba wants to use its subsidiary Hema Fresh to open physical stores in all 200 Chinese cities with over a million inhabitants.
Afound, the newest outlet and multi-brand formula created by the H&M group, is making its entry in the Netherlands. It will be the first market for Afound besides domestic Sweden.
Property
Belgian retail investment fund Retail Estates continues its Dutch expansion, buying 56 stores for 97 million euros. Its total Dutch investment now stands at 422 million, for 218 properties.
German discounter Lidl wants to open more than forty new stores in London alone in the next five years, an ambition that comes with a price tag of half a billion pounds (560 million euros).
Its latest store in shopping centre Belle-Ile in Liège means French children fashion chain Tape à l’œil has opened its 24th store in Belgium.
German discounter Aldi will open its first two stores in China on 7 June. The two stores in Shanghai mark the beginning of an ambitious expansion scheme on the huge Chinese market, in which the retailer hopes to convince the growing middle class.
