UK Investment:
According to the Investment Association data, March saw £472m invested in the UK All Companies sector and £217m in smaller UK companies. Though by no means the best-selling sectors – the top spot was taken by IA Global with net retail sales of £1.6bn in March – this marks the first such inflows into these two sectors in six months.
UK Grocer;
A food discounter founded in Russia with a claimed 3,200 stores internationally is gearing up to open its first branches in the UK this summer. Svetofor was founded in Krasnoyarsk in Siberia in 2009 and has been opening stores in Europe since 2018 under the name Mere. The business has stores in Germany, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine, with plans for more soon in Italy,Spain,Greeceand Bulgaria as well as the UK.
US Malls:
Visitors are coming back to indoor malls, hopefully signalling that the worst days of the pandemic are behind us. A sample of 50 major malls across the US registered 86% more visits in March 2021 compared to the same month last year. This is yet another sign that the vaccine rollout has made an enormous impact on the overall economy in the US. Even in February, Valentines’ Day resulted in a big jump in sales. At this point, most restaurant owners and retailers expect this upward trend to continue over the summer.
Federal Way :
Federal Way grocery workers are in for a $3-an-hour hazard pay raise following the approval of a Federal Way City Council ordinance on May 4. The hazard pay ordinance covers workers at chain grocery stores including Safeway, Walmart, WinCo and Kroger-owned Fred Meyer. The ordinance also covers smaller grocers, such as Grocery Outlet, by allowing them to apply for grant money through the American Rescue Plan.
Apple :
A new safety concern with Apple’s new AirTag tracker has prompted Australian retailer Officeworks to remove the new item from its store’s shelves. The source of the information was a Reddit thread of a user’s experience when trying to purchase one. The user tried to buy AirTags but the store was unable to locate them. That’s when an Officeworks representative notified the user that AirTags were removed from its store’s shelves citing a safety risk with the accessibility of the small button-battery.
Target Australia:
Target could become a largely online store after the struggling retail continues to be cannibalized by Kmart stores. Target could become a largely online store after the struggling retail continues to be cannibalized by Kmart stores. Around 55 Target’s will be converted around Australia this year into Kmart stores or KHubs, smaller neighborhood stores that stock products across kids, home and clothing. There have been 16 stores that underwent the transformation last year under a restructure worth $800 million.
Wildberries:
Wildberries, Russia’s largest e-commerce site, has launched in the U.S. — the latest international market it hopes to break into after opening online stores for customers across western Europe earlier this year. The company has launched a dedicated U.S. website and app — available in English and Russian — and says around 5.5 million items will be available from 40,000 brands. Entry into the U.S. will put Wildberries in even closer competition with Amazon, following launches in France, Germany and Italy in the last 12 months.
Presented By: Alex ISZATT