Quotation
Lotte opens duty-free shop at Jakarta airport, to add more shops in Indonesia
South Korean-based retail giant, the Lotte Group, opened on Tuesday its first duty-free shop outside Korea at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta. Lotte Duty Free CEO Choi Young-soo said during his speech at the inauguration that the 880-square-metre shop was Lotte's first international duty-free shop, and was set to be the biggest in Southeast Asia.
Lotte also has duty-free outlets in 10 locations in Korea.
Spanish fashion brand Kelme to enter India
Spanish sportswear and fashion brand Kelme is entering India through a licensing and distribution agreement with Global Overseas and plans to open up to 10 stores during the first year of operations.
Ghaziabad headquartered Global Overseas is a part of the Singapore-based Sports Fashion (SF). Kelme is owned by New Millennium Sports that has tie up with SF for Asia-Pacific region.
Japan's FamilyMart plans to open 600 stores in Philippines, Indonesia
FamilyMart Co., Japan's largest convenience store operator in Southeast Asia, plans to open 600 stores in the Philippines and Indonesia, tapping demand from young people as an aging population saps growth at home.
The retailer intends to have 300 stores in each country by 2015, expanding on a network that includes more than 10,700 shops outside Japan, Masaaki Kosaka, director of overseas operations, said in an interview. He declined to say how much the expansion would cost.
Paradigm India to open 100 Fashion Station stores pan-India by 2015
Joining the bandwagon of organised retail in apparels, Paradigm retail India is planning to launch 100 "Fashion Station" stores pan-India by 2015 starting from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
By the end of current financial year, the company plans to open 10 stores in major towns of the two states and later expand in other states, including Bihar, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan etc.
Chinese shoppers' luxury letdown
Although Chinese consumers are among the world's biggest spenders on luxury goods, they do not always get the treatment they deserve from top brands, an industry expert says.
Ouyang Kun, the head of the Beijing office of the World Luxury Association, an independent market research group, said Chinese consumers often paid "a luxury price" for international big brands but did not get "the luxury services" that the brands would offer in other markets.
Chinese visitors help propel HK sales to record high
Retailers in Hong Kong look to have had their best Christmas ever, with overall retail sales expected to have surged as much as 25 percent from a year ago to a record high, the Retail Management Association says.
Richemont Asia-Pacific sales post highest growth among all regions in FY11
Swiss luxury goods group Richemont on Thursday posted a sharp increase in fiscal 2011 profit, driven by strong sales growth across all segments and regions.
Sales increased 33 percent to EUR6.89 billion (USD9.85b) for the year ended on 31 March 2011 from EUR5.18 in the previous year. Gross profit rose 38 percent from EUR3.19b to EUR4.39b. Operating profit jumped 63 percent to EUR1.36b, double the rate of growth in sales.
Charter Hall Retail buys 8 shopping centres from Woolworths
Charter Hall Retail REIT (REIT) has bought eight neighbourhood and sub-regional shopping centres for AUD266 million (USD281.8m) from Woolworths, in joint venture with Telstra Super, one of Australia's largest superannuation funds.
The acquisition is consistent with the REIT's strategy of reweighting to Australia, enhancing income security and growth through investing in quality grocery anchored neighbourhood and sub-regional shopping centres.
Gap 4Q10 net profits up 4pc, to open 10-15 stores in China in fiscal year 2011
US fashion giant Gap Inc. on Thursday said its net profits increased 4 percent to USD365 million in the fourth quarter ended on 29 January 2011 from USD352m in the same period last year. Net sales were USD4.36 billion compared with USD4.24b for the fourth quarter of last year.
For the whole fiscal year 2010, net sales increased 3 percent from USD14.2b to USD14.66b. Comparable store sales increased 1 percent compared with a decrease of 3 percent for the prior year.
Coach sales up 19pc as US and China sales soar
US leather-goods retailer Coach, Inc. on Tuesday said sales rose 19 percent to USD1.26 billion for the second fiscal quarter ended on 1 January 2011 from USD1.07b last year. Net income for the quarter jumped 26 percent to USD303 million.
Direct-to-consumer sales increased 17 percent to USD1.10b from USD934m last year. Japan sales were even on a constant-currency basis, while dollar sales rose 8 percent driven by a stronger yen. China sales remained robust, as POS sales continued to comp at a double-digit rate.
