Takeover talks between Carrefour and Couche-Tard have been halted. However, both companies are looking at how they can work more closely together in the future.

In the autumn of this year, all of Jysk's German stores currently called Dänisches Bettenlager will be renamed Jysk. The Danish furniture retailer has already done the same in Austria.

Fast Retailing, the owner of Uniqlo amongst others, confirmed its forecasts for the 2020/21 financial year on Thursday. This is surprising at first glance, as 'motherland' Japan took stricter measures against the Covid-19 virus again a week ago.

Zalando now charges a "distance fee" to customers in the Benelux for packages coming from further afield. The free shipping trendsetter is retracing its steps, and others will follow.

Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, has just launched in Germany. The company is also looking to expand into other European countries.

Food and beverage company PepsiCo aims to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions across its entire supply chain to zero by 2040. That's 10 years earlier than called for in the Paris Agreement.

This year, food retailers are bringing the out-of-home experience into homes, making e-commerce profitable, and helping customers to be healthier. At least that is what research firm IGD predicts for 2021.

Primark saw its sales fall by thirty per cent in the last quarter. The cut-price fashion chain already published a turnover warning at the end of last year.

Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever, thinks global consumption will remain at a low level for a while, despite signs of improvement in East Asia, Latin America and elsewhere.

The European Food Safety Agency green-lights yellow mealworms: the insects have been declared safe for human consumption. It opens up a whole new playing field for food producers.

Amazon is discontinuing its grocery service Pantry. But that does not mean Jeff Bezos is giving up, on the contrary... The shopping service will now be faster and cheaper.

The lockdown hits Hema hard. The retail chain is cancelling all running orders, will not be placing any new orders for the time being, and will pay its suppliers late.

The Belgian fashion chain e5 Mode, currently under debt protection, seems to have caught the eye of a Danish fashion holding. It does face competition from Dutch and Belgian potential buyers, however, including one supported by the Flemish government.

What does Alimentation Couche-Tard want to achieve with a possible takeover of Carrefour? Can a petrol shop specialist save the hypermarket? One thing is clear: the French retail group is for sale...

Meal delivery company Just Eat Takeaway's fourth-quarter figures for 2020 show that it is a big winner in the current corona crisis. The number of orders increased by more than half.

Half-empty shelves and scarcity of fish: barely two weeks after Brexit came into force, the chaos has arrived. A (non-exhaustive) overview.

Nomad Foods, the company behind Iglo and Belviva among others, is in exclusive negotiations with Fortenova Group to acquire Frozen Food Business Group (FFBG).

Farmers blame the big chains for getting too little for their produce, but the supermarkets refute this. A Dutch agricultural economist nuances the discussion. "Nobody in the chain earns excessively," states Willy Baltussen of Wageningen University.

Topshop parent Arcadia has a prospective buyer: G-III Apparel, owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Guess among others, is said to be bidding for the bankrupt British fashion empire.

The Belgian family business Facq, a specialist distributor of bathrooms and heating, is being taken over by GC-Gruppe, a German sector partner. The Facq family will remain a minority shareholder.

Canadian supermarket group Alimentation Couche-Tard wants to acquire Carrefour. Friendly introductory talks are already ongoing, both companies admit.

American ice cream producer Ben & Jerry's is looking to capitalise on the growing pet food market. The company is launching 2 new flavours, specially made for dogs.

Fashion brand Object, part of Bestseller, collaborates with Swedish innovator Renewcell to produce clothing made (partially) from recycled textiles.

In the Netherlands, the lockdown is extended by three weeks. Non-food representative INretail insists on substantial additional support measures.

Investment company Permira wants to take its British shoe brand Dr. Martens to the London Stock Exchange in the near future. The funds raised will support further international expansion and the development of e-commerce.

Online shoppers at German hypermarket chain Kaufland can take advantage of a unique deal today: some Coca-Cola products are priced at exactly 0.00 euro.

Na de forse uithaal van Hema-baas Tjeerd Jegen heeft Albert Heijn beslist om een 1+1-actie met badhanddoeken stop te zetten. Jegen verweet zijn concurrent een gebrek aan solidariteit nu de Hema-winkels in Nederland langer dicht moeten blijven door de verlengde lockdown. 

A German group has turned its attention to the outlets of the recently declared bankrupt retailer Mega World. Negotiations with the trustees are starting today.

Luxury giant LVMH has completed the acquisition of Tiffany & Co. With Bernard Arnault's son gaining power, the top management of the jewellery company is thoroughly shaken up. 

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has agreed to a complete makeover of the Champs-Elysées. More green and fewer cars, that is the core of the ambitious plan.

For the first time in more than 20 years, fast food chain Burger King is carrying out a complete rebranding: everything gets a makeover, from the logo to the look of the restaurants. 

A Belgian shopping centre is introducing a navigation tool based on Augmented Reality (AR), which shows shoppers the quickest way to the shops. The app will be tested extensively in the coming weeks.