Food
The German retail group Rewe is being given the green light for the acquisition of Lekkerland, which in Belgium also includes wholesaler Conway. This will create a new European superpower in the convenience sector.
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REWE Group and Greenyard have extended their cooperation in the German market to a long-term, vertically integrated partnership for fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers; a dedicated operating unit shall be set up for this purpose.
Fashion
Zara is currently testing automatic parcel machines in its stores in Germany: in their flagship store in Hamburg, there is room for as many as 700 parcels. The fashion chain’s aim, is to encourage click&collect.
Zalando tests a second-hand shop for women's fashion items in Berlin, called Zircle. It is the second venture of the German e-tailer into second-hand clothing, following the app Zalando Wardrobe.
Meal delivery service Deliveroo is quitting the German market as of this Friday. The company says it wants to focus on better-performing markets.
Daniel Kretinsky's attempts to acquire 67.5 % of shares in German retailer Metro have failed. The Czech billionaire now wants to take a seat in the Board of Directors.
Time is running out for Daniel Kretinsky's takeover bid on German retail holding Metro. The offer ends on 7 August, but is a deal still possible given the many people opposing it?
Hugo Boss has performed slightly below expectations in its second quarter: sales were disappointing, especially in the United States.
Zalando has increased its forecast for the full year 2019 after it had an excellent second quarter, in which turnover went up 20 % to 1.6 billion euros.
Haniel has accepted EP Global Commerce's takeover bid on its remaining Metro shares. The question is now what the other shareholders will do.
General
Activists and Amazon employees in the United States and Germany are using the two-day discount event Prime Day to protest against several aspects of the e-commerce giant.
The two branches of Aldi, Nord and Süd, are going to unify their private labels. By 2020, customers of both chains will only be able to buy the same brands, spelling the end of brands like Topstar and Milsani.
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.
Electronics
German Ceconomy, the holding that includes MediaMarkt and Saturn, has had a tough quarter due to negative currency and calendar effects. Still, the company reaffirms its prospects for the rest of the year.
German fashion web shop Zalando wants to stimulate the direct delivery of goods through partnered fashion stores, after it turned out the German e-tailer lost a billion euros worth in turnover last year due to supply shortages in its own warehouses.
Rocket Internet is going to sell its complete remaining stake in HelloFresh. Earlier this year, the Germans had already sold a part of the meal box delivery company.
