To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world:

August 16 – Mexico’s Elektra Announces Online Shopping to Compete with Amazon
Mexican department store chain Elektra announced it will launch an on-line shopping portal to compete with Amazon. Elektra’s marketplace will launch with 25 consumer products business partner brands and the goal of expanding to 1,000 partners by the year’s end. *This article is written in Spanish. From El Financiero

August 13 – Walmart’s Seiyu Has Interested Buyer
Japan’s Don Quijote is interested in increasing its presence in the market and said it may do so by buying Seiyu, which has 300 stores in the market. Owned by Walmart, the retailer just announced it would sell its Japanese retail unit. From European Supermarket Magazine

August 10 – UK’s House of Fraser Purchased by Sports Direct
Almost immediately after the UK’s 169 year old department store filed for bankruptcy, Sports Direct owner, Mike Ashley, purchased the retailer for 90 million GBP. From Retail Detail

August 10 – Ikea to Open in India 
After 12 years of planning, Ikea will open its first 400,000 square foot store on the outskirts of Hyderabad. This is the first of 25 Ikea stores planned for the Indian market by 2025. From The Economic Times  

August 9 –Brazil’s Economy Showing Signs Improvement
Despite much of the available publicity regarding the economy in Brazil, the economy has shown signs of growth and recovery. From Emmersion

August 9 – India’s Flipkart Launched its Supermart Online Grocery
Bengaluru, India has seen the first availability of this online grocery offering, with the major cities of Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi by the end of the year. From Gadget Now

August 9 – Belarus’ Eurotorg Posts 4.8% Like-For-Like Growth in Second Quarter 
Eurotorg, Belarus’ largest retailer, attributed its increased sales to increased foot traffic and basket size. From European Supermarket Magazine

August 9 – Alibaba Announced New Membership Program for Most Loyal Customers
This new all-in-one “88VIP” paid membership plan will allow Alibaba users with a Taoqi Value (a scoring system based on purchase history and personal credit) higher than 1,000 to purchase this annual membership. The membership will allow for further discounts and exclusive offers. From Alizila

August  9 – China’s Suning to add 12,000 Smart Retail Stores
One of China’s largest online retailers, Suning.com, plans to open 12,000 stores by 2020 to add to the store count of just over 1,000 currently. The aim is to own the new stores in fourth to sixth-tire towns and counties. From Asia Times

August 8 – Homebase to Close 60 Stores
UK-based retailer, Homebase, was purchased from Australia’s Wesfarmers by Hilco in May. Hilco plans to close 60 of the retailer’s 250 stores. From BBC News

August 8 – JD.com and Walmart Invest $500 million in Chinese Delivery Company
Formed by the merger of D Daojia (JD.com’s online-to-offline business) and Dada Nexus (a crowd-sourcing delivery platform), Dada-JD Daojia is an online grocery delivery platform. The company, which delivers goods from local supermarkets via a location-based smartphone app and has about 20 million monthly active users, just raised $500 million in funding from U.S.’s Walmart and JD.com. From CNBC

August 8 – Mexico’s Chedraui to Enter Convenience Space
Under the name, Súper Che, Mexico’s supermarket chain, Chedraui, plans to open 30 stores to compete in the convenience store market dominated by chains such as Oxxo and 7-Eleven. Chedraui plan to invest approximately US$213.8 million. From Mexico News Daily 

August 8 – Petco to Expand to Canada through Partnership with Canadian Tire
Petco’s collaboration with Canadian Tire avails Petco’s assortment of food, treats, supplies and accessories available to pet owners in Canada, both online and in stores. From Pet Products News

August 8 – Dutch Ahold Delhaize Reports Solid Second Quarter
Increased sales and margins were noted, although sales declined 3.7% from a year earlier to 15.5 billion euros ($18 billion) in the second quarter, while net profit rose to 410 million. From Supermarket News

August 7 – Philippine Retailer, Robinsons, Posted a 9.6% Increase
The retailer attributes this positive growth to reforms in tax laws, allowing for significant tax cuts. The company’s net sales improved by 13.5% to P31.5 billion ($594 million) for the April to June period. From Business World

August 6 – Brazil’s Magazine Luiza Doubles its Second Quarter Profit
The electronics and appliances retailer posted a second quarter net income of 140.7 million Reais ($37.6 million), double the same period a year ago. From Nasdaq

August 6 – Carrefour Tesco Alliance to be Operational in October
The companies announced the partnership in July, with French company Carrefour joining forces with UK’s Tesco to form a global purchasing alliance. The aim of this partnership is to have the force to require better terms from major suppliers to drive down costs. From Reuters

August 3 – PriceSmart to Open Supermarket in Dominican Republic
U.S. grocery and general merchandise retailer PriceSmart initiated construction of a new supermarket in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The new location, expected to open by mid-2019, will become the chain’s fifth in the Caribbean country. *This article is written in Spanish. From Central America Data

August 2 – JD.com Launches First Un-manned Store Outside of China
With 20 unmanned stores throughout China, JD.com launched its first of the X-Mart stores outside of China in Jakarta. This follows JD.com’s March 2016 launch of its online shopping platform in Indonesia, now selling more than 350,000 SKUs and serving 20 million consumers in Indonesia. From China Money Network

August 2 – Germany’s Metro AG Underscores Importance of Russian Market Despite Slow Sales
The retailer reported net profit for the period was 57 million euros ($66.6 million), compared with EUR75 million last year. The company’s struggling Russian operations are in focus, however, Metro AG said that Russia is and will remind important. From Market Watch

August 1 – Middle East’s Noon Launches Grocery Delivery, Expands Product Offerings
Backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and a group of Gulf investors, Noon aims to streamline the lives of customers by moving away from waiting in long lines and eventually offering customers the opportunity to buy products from other parts of the world through its partnership with eBay. From Arabian Business

August 1 – Chile’s Falabella Seeks Financing for Investing in Online Marketplace and Ikea Partnership
Falabella purchased online marketplace, Linio, operating in eight Latin American countries. The retailer anticipates using this newly acquired marketplace for sales. Falabella is seeking financing for the purchase of Linio and to invest in a partnership with Sweden’s Ikea to open stores in Chile, Colombia and Peru. From Reuters

The International Business Council is a special interest group of IHA members, dedicated to helping its membership market and sell their products internationally by sharing information, providing networking opportunities and offering programs to assist, support, and educate. Membership is free to all regular, IHA members – visit the IBC website to learn more.