TOP NEWS
* Amazon.com Inc. is in talks with banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. to create a co-branded credit card for small-business owners in the U.S., Bloomberg reported March 12, citing sources. The report said the card will feature reward points for purchases, and Amazon hopes to add offerings such as business insurance. Separately, citing Amazon Books Vice President Cameron James, The Washington Post reported that the online retailer will open a bookstore on M Street in Georgetown in Washington, D.C.
* U.S. retailer Kroger Co. said it will expand its partnership with U.S. grocery delivery startup Instacart to make deliveries to more areas in 2018. The retailer plans to add 500 additional pickup locations apart from its existing 1,091 curbside pickup locations and stores across the country.
TEXTILES, APPAREL AND LUXURY GOODS
* Apparel and accessories retailer Claire's Stores Inc. is preparing to file for bankruptcy in the coming weeks — a move that is expected to relieve it of its $2 billion debt load, which it amassed when Apollo Global Management LLC made a leveraged buyout of the company in 2007, Bloomberg reported.
* Japanese apparel retailer Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. will open an outlet of its Uniqlo apparel chain on the Indonesian island of Sumatra at the Sun Plaza shopping mall in Medan in the week of March 12, Inside Retail Asia reported. It will be Uniqlo's first outlet outside the Indonesian island of Java. Fast Retailing further plans to open an outlet in Makassar on Sulawesi Island in May and two more outlets in Jakarta and Yogyakarta before August, the report added.
* U.K. apparel retailer French Connection Group PLC said an undisclosed U.S. third party made an unsolicited takeover approach for the group in 2017, but it did not lead to an offer even after several months of due diligence and negotiations, The Financial Times reported. The entity ultimately decided not to proceed with the offer, the report said, citing a source familiar with the development.
MULTILINE RETAIL
* U.S. department store chain J.C. Penney Co. Inc. launched a new tagline and creative campaign with a new message "Style and value for all" in the week of March 12, AdAge India reported. As part of the campaign, the company launched a 30-second television video "Sister Style" and plans to launch two additional broadcast spots — a 15-second commercial and a 30-second video — in the next few weeks, the report said. The company previously had the tagline "Get Your Penney's Worth."
E-COMMERCE
* Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc. unveiled its new research and development hub for smart supply-chain technologies, which will operate across China, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and in Chicago and the Silicon Valley in the U.S. The Global Supply Chain Innovation Center aims to bring together industry experts, companies and universities to work on supply-chain innovations.
FOOD AND STAPLES RETAILING
* German discount grocer ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG said it expanded its Instacart online grocery ordering and home-delivery service to Chicagoland, Northwest Indiana and Rockford. The service allows customers to order exclusive ALDI brands online, which will be delivered in about an hour by Instacart. In other news, citing a German weekly newspaper Lebensmittle Zeitung, Retail News Asia reported that Aldi South, a subsidiary of the German grocer, plans to open about 50 stores in China.
HOUSEHOLD DURABLES AND SPECIALTY RETAIL
* South African retailer Steinhoff International Holdings NV said it plans to sell about a 17% stake in diversified logistics, industrial and chemical company KAP Industrial Holdings Ltd. through a share placing that could raise about 3.83 billion South African rand before fees. The company said it will use the proceeds to settle "certain debt obligations."
* Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corp., which holds an almost 40% stake in EMI Music Publishing, is in talks to acquire a majority stake in the U.K.-based company from Mubadala Investment Co. for at least $4 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. Mubadala reportedly is seeking a buyer of its EMI holding and has been contacting potential bidders to assess pricing.
* Williams-Sonoma Inc.-owned home furnishings store chain West Elm will launch workshops in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Austin, Texas; Charleston, S.C.; Detroit; and Savannah, Ga., as a way of connecting with customers, USA Today reported March 12. The workshops will start April 2 and will feature classes in art welding, dyed pattern-making, sketching, woodworking and more. Participating fee ranges between $130 and $250.
* Privately held Swedish home furnishings retailer IKEA received a registration certificate from the Philippines' board of investments to open stores in the country, Retail News Asia reported. Citing the authority's legal and compliance service director Marjorie Ramos-Samaniego, the report added that the franchise holder of IKEA in Southeast Asia, Ikano Pte. Ltd., secured the certificate.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* The Indian government plans to develop a voluntary system to compensate consumers who have bought a counterfeit product from online platforms, The Press Trust of India reported, citing an official. The discussions for the system, which could be called "cash-back," are at a conceptual stage and are being held between e-commerce companies, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and the Consumer Affairs Ministry, the report added.
