French fashion chain Promod is reducing the size of its foreign activities. The German branch has started an insolvency procedure, the Belgian stores are also being looked into.

The lockdown measures against the coronavirus proved to be a blessing for meal supplier HelloFresh: just as in the strong first quarter, demand for meal boxes increased sharply in the second quarter.

The European Union imposes conditions on the acquisition of Grandvision - the parent company of Pearle and Eye Whish - by the French-Italian eyewear group EssilorLuxottica: the merged company will have to divest stores in Italy and in the Netherlands and/or France.

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important in the supermarket industry, but biased algorithms can do great damage. Ahold Delhaize wants to pay more attention to this, says top executive Frans Muller.

The corona crisis has accelerated the growth of online grocery shopping at an unprecedented rate. At least part of that growth is permanent and that is bad news: e-commerce in food is not profitable. Is there a way out?

Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo is restructuring its restaurant business La Place: 23 restaurants, or more than a quarter of all establishments, are closing due to the corona crisis.

Dutch fashion label G-Star is suffering due to the corona crisis: in the US and Australia the brand applied for creditor protection, in Sweden bankruptcy was declared. Yet the company claims to be financially healthy.

Annick van Overstraeten becomes top executive of the "new" Le Pain Quotidien. For ten years Van Overstraeten was CEO of Lunch Garden, now she has to take care of the restart of the bakery-restaurants.

Dries Van Noten opens its first store in China at the end of August. The Belgian fashion designer moves into a building of no less than 1,800 square metres in Shanghai.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnsons launches an assault on obesity: he wants to ban promotions for unhealthy food in supermarkets. The corona crisis has strengthened his conviction, he says.

The decision to make mouth masks compulsory in all shops is widely supported within the Belgian retail sector, but shopkeepers are not willing to act as policemen and reject sanctions.

More than half of the French Carrefour hypermarkets are loss-making. The supermarket group is investing in mobile payment options and an Amazon Go variant to make shopping as easy as possible.

Levi's is cutting 700 jobs in its offices, or about 15% of the workforce. As a result of the corona crisis, turnover of the jeans brand fell by no less than 62% in the past quarter and uncertainty remains.

Ahold Delhaize joins the battle for Hema and undertakes a new attempt to incorporate the Dutch department store chain.

The Brussels Financial Services and Markets Authority FSMA expands its research into fashion group FNG and hands over the files to the court. There would be indications of possible market manipulation.

The corona crisis has caused an acceleration in e-commerce, but that acceleration had already started last year. In 2019 online sales in Europe grew by 14.2%, this year an increase of 'at least' 12.7% is expected.

Boohoo is going through the dust now that the British fashion brand is accused of slavery in a factory. Large online retailers such as Asos and Zalando immediately stopped the collaboration.

Amazon is attacking the supermarket landscape with several concepts at the same time: after the growth of home delivery during the corona crisis, the cash-less Amazon Go concept is expanding further, while "regular" supermarkets are also being added.

Fashion Group FNG, which owns retail brands Brantano and Miss Etam amongst others, is protected against its creditors for three months. This was decided by court after examining the retailer’s reorganisation application for a week.

Lidl Belgium's fair trade chocolate bars 'Way to Go!' are going international: the chocolate is also finding its way onto store shelves in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Now that Nestlé can no longer call its "just like real" plant-based burger Incredible, the name changes to "Sensational". The burger comes with an improved recipe.

Carrefour customers in France can now add their loyalty card to their Apple Wallet, so that they can pay with their iPhone or Apple Watch and at the same time use the loyalty programme.

Although Amancio Ortega mainly made his fortune through his textile empire Inditex, the 84-year-old Spaniard has also invested heavily in real estate in recent years. That real estate portfolio would now be worth 15.2 billion euros.

Willem Olsthoorn, co-founder of children's clothing brand Oilily, passed away last Wednesday. The label was mainly known for its colourful designs and gained international fame. Olsthoorn turned 81.

In Germany, a reduction in VAT leads to an unseen price war, with rivals Aldi and Lidl using comparative advertising to claim price leadership.

Retail sales in the eurozone recovered particularly well in May, when many countries eased lockdowns. Eurostat figures show this.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, is richer than ever before: a year after his divorce, which was the most expensive divorce in history, he breaks his own record again.

Suit Supply receives 40 million euros in government-guaranteed loans. The shareholders of the of made-to-measure menswear retailer also inject another 20 million euros into the company after the corona crisis hit hard.

American luxury group Capri (Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, Versace) fears a 70% loss of sales due to the corona pandemic. The group will therefore close 170 stores over the next two years.

Spanish fashion chain Mango attracted as many as 900,000 new online customers during the lockdown, almost doubling online sales. Digital transformation remains a priority for the company.

Investors seem to be very interested in department store chain Hema: American investment fund Flacks Group is presenting itself as a potential buyer. The fund is also looking at other chains in the Benelux.

German department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof will close six fewer stores than initially planned, following negotiations with landlords. As a result, some 750 endangered jobs will be saved.