Food
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.
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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.
Fashion
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.
Furniture
Danish home decoration store chain Jysk has announced some ambitious targets during the celebrations of its fortieth anniversary. The chain wants to more than double its number of stores to 5,000 and start a worldwide expansion.
The Dutch catering wholesaler Sligro had imagined its conquest of Belgium in a completely different way. Every new store is a new struggle: "The competition has made it very difficult," says CEO Koen Slippens.
Supermarket group Spar International continues to expand: for the third year in a row, turnover has grown by more than 5 % as Dutch and Austrian sales soar.
Foodmaker has opened its first French restaurant in Paris, only its second abroad. The Belgian restaurant chain wants to double its turnover this year, thanks to foreign expansion.
Irish Primark saw its profit rise by no less than 25 % in the past six months. The fashion discounter now accounts for two thirds of the profit of parent holding company Associated British Foods, which also distributes sugar and Twinings tea.
French sports chain Decathlon has opened a store of 4300 sqm in Emeryville, near San Francisco: for the French retailer this is a return to the United States after twelve years of absence.
Beerwulf, a Dutch speciality beers web shop, is expanding into five new countries: Austria, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland join the five countries where the web shop is already active.
