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Category: Living

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Living news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • 600 Vietnamese staff trained for Hanoi’s metro line Opening

    600 Vietnamese staff trained for Hanoi’s metro line Opening

    Operational staff for Hanoi’s first metro line has been trained, but its opening date remains up in the air. 86 of them are in the driving department, with 46 main drivers. The rest are substitute drivers and technicians. All drivers have been trained and have practiced in Beijing, China for a year. Their experience ranges from driving 5,000-20,000 kilometers.

    “To prepare for the commercial operation, we have done both practical training and simulator training, including dealing with unexpected events,” said driver Tran Thanh Long.

    Over 500 people will work in the operating center to manage trains, maintain infrastructure, distribute tickets and discharge other responsibilities. Over this and next month, they will run drills for emergency evacuation, handling a large number of passengers and dealing with malfunctioning trains. The Vietnamese staff has been trained by Chinese experts. A representative of the contractor said that “most Vietnamese staff have met training standards and can operate the metro line immediately.”

    Another reason was that the Chinese contractor, China Railway Sixth Group Co., Ltd, has not submitted necessary documents to authorities for a final inspection, a source said then. But it is still unclear when the metro will start its commercial operations. The city’s long delayed Cat Linh – Ha Dong metro route missed last month’s deadline for commercial operation since construction was still not complete.

    Work on the metro started in October 2011 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2013. But several hurdles, including loan disbursement issues with China that were only resolved in December 2017, stalled it for years.

    The original estimated cost of $553 million ballooned to more than $868 million, including $670 million in loans from China.

    When completed, Hanoi’s first metro line will run from Cat Linh Station in downtown Dong Da District to the Yen Nghia Station in the south-west Ha Dong District.

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  • Weber opens New Store in Singapore

    Weber opens New Store in Singapore

    Weber Singapore will open a new store at No 4, Sixth Avenue.

    The US-based barbecue brand’s new store will showcase the full range of Weber’s cooking products including gas-, charcoal- and electric-powered grills.

    “Weber aims to create succulent moments that draw family and friends closer together through great food, grilling fun and unforgettable memories,” says Steven Lim, VP and MD for North and Southeast Asia of Weber-Stephen.

    Weber has also launched the first Grill Academy in Singapore and South East Asia at the Joo Chiat Weber Store, adding to more than 100 Grill Academies in the world.

    The academy allows people to get hands-on grill demonstrations and an opportunity to practice with Weber’s gas grills and charcoal grills in a three-hour Weber Essential Course.

    Weber grills are sold in more than 72 countries, including a recent expansion into Asia via India, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Singapore.

  • ACT’s first drive-thru pharmacy Concept Wins Interest

    ACT’s first drive-thru pharmacy Concept Wins Interest

    The ACT’s first drive-thru pharmacy, Gold Creek Discount Drug Store, has proven a hit with the local community a year on from opening, highlighting the importance of accessible healthcare in rural areas.

    The ‘door-to-door’ service has offered greater accessibility, convenience and flexibility to the community, with the elderly, pregnant women and those with mobility issues, in particular benefitting from the service.

    The pharmacy’s drive-thru offers over-the-counter medication, script collection as well as a click-and-collect service through Discount Drug Stores’ e-commerce site.

    “Our drive-thru pharmacy has enabled local patients, both young and old, to become more independent on their journey to better health and has been of particular benefit to pregnant women, the elderly and those with chronic conditions,” Gold Creek Discount Drug Stores partner, Nader Ibrahim, said.

    “We now see customers who we hadn’t seen in years due to their inability to be mobile. Rather than having to ask their friends, family or neighbors to assist, the drive-thru enables patients to feel more self-sufficient.

    The service has also proved popular with time-poor parents, with the store recording a 34 percent increase in baby care purchases such as formulas and medication, via the drive-thru.

    Ibrahim said the concept “makes life easier” for stay-at-home parents, who can avoid the hassle of taking their kids in and out of the car.

    Gold Creek is the first and only Discount Drug Store with a drive-thru service at this time.

  • Natura and Avon announce Major merger

    Natura and Avon announce Major merger

    Brazilian parent of Aesop and the Body Shop to take over 130-year-old Avon business.

    Cosmetics firm Natura is acquiring Avon Products in an all-share transaction, creating one of the world’s largest “pure-play” beauty groups.

    The combination of Natura and Avon will create as a multi-brand and multi-channel beauty group with direct connections to consumers on a daily basis. Going forward, the group will hold a strengthened hand in relationship selling through Avon’s and Natura’s more than 6.3 million consultants and representatives; a global footprint through 3200 stores, as well as an expanded digital presence across all companies.

    The combined group is expected to have annual gross revenues of more than US$10 billion, more than 40,000 associates, and a presence in 100 countries.

    “We have always looked at Avon with respect and admiration,” said Natura cofounder Luiz Seabra. “Natura was founded on its passion for beauty and relationships, and today’s transaction creates a major force in the direct-to-consumer space. Direct selling was a social network before the word even existed, and the arrival of technology and globalization only multiplied opportunities to connect with consumers in a meaningful way.

    “The peer-to-peer sales model is evolving towards social selling and the power of digital allows the group to go beyond providing products and advice, and advances women’s empowerment, through financial independence and enhanced self-esteem. We believe that business can be a force for good and together with Avon, we will amplify our pioneering efforts to bring social, environmental and economic value to an ever-expanding network,” said Seabra.

    Avon and Natura both reach customers through a force of independent, primarily female micro-entrepreneurs, who act as brand ambassadors and beauty advisors.

    Natura expects the combination to result in target synergies estimated at $150 million to $250 million annually, some of which will be reinvested to further enhance capabilities in digital and social selling, research and development and brand initiatives and to continue to grow the group’s geographic footprint.

    “Following the acquisitions of Aesop in 2013 and The Body Shop in 2017, Natura is taking another exciting, decisive step to build a global, multi-brand, multi-channel, purpose-driven group,” said Natura executive chairman Roberto Marques. “Together we will enhance our growing digital capabilities, our social network of consultants and representatives and leverage our global store footprint and distinctive brands, connecting, touching and influencing millions of consumers with different profiles daily, making our group unique and creating a formidable platform for growth.”

    “This combination is the start of an exciting new chapter in Avon’s 130-year history,” said Avon CEO Jan Zijderveld. “It stands as a testament to the progress of our efforts to ‘Open Up Avon’, and we believe it will allow us to significantly accelerate our strategy and further expand into the online channel. Over the past year, we have started a transformation to strengthen Avon’s competitiveness by renewing our focus on Her, simplifying our operations, and modernizing and digitizing our brand. Together with Natura, we will have broader access to innovation and a portfolio of products, stronger e-commerce, and digital platform, and improved data and tools for representatives to drive growth and enhance value for shareholders.”

  • Spar International to expand into China

    Spar International to expand into China

    Grocery retail franchise Spar International will open more than 150,000sqm of retail sales space in China this year.

    The firm’s store-development plans include compact hypermarkets and a “new generation” of supermarkets in Northern and Southern China.

    Spar International, which operates more than 13,000 stores in 48 countries worldwide, is coming off a strong financial year with global sales of €35.8 billion (US$40 billion). The group launched 335 new locations last year, and entered four new countries.

    “Our strong network of Spar partners and supply chains across four continents gives the brand a competitive advantage in an increasingly global marketplace,” said Spar CEO Tobias Wasmuht, “while our multi-format strategy allows us to respond to changing customer needs.

    “Our continuous compound annual growth of 5.2 per cent over the last three years creates a strong platform to build from for the future and indicates that our ‘Better Together’ strategy, launched in 2016, continues to deliver for the organisation, our partners and our customers.”

    The Spar brand is present in seven Asia Pacific territories, with €1.96 billion ($2.2 billion) in sales achieved from 573 stores last year. Spar China’s footprint accounted for 830,043sqm and sales of €1.5 billion ($1.67 billion) during the financial year, with particularly strong growth in the Shandong and Guangdong provinces. The firm’s Thailand operations expanded to 45 stores and recorded a sales growth of 96.2 per cent.

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  • Farmers staff go on Strike

    Farmers staff go on Strike

    Employees of local department store chain Farmers have walked off the job in the first of a series of planned actions to combat the retailer’s reliance on an “unfair performance pay system”, according to First Union.

    Workers gave Farmers an ‘F’ for payment issues, including the performance pay system that keeps wages down, as well as Farmers’ refusal to pay a living wage.

    Staff will be wearing an “F for Farmers: Farmers Workers Deserve a Living Wage” sticker on their shirt at 40 of the retail chain’s 56 stores, according to NZ Herald.

    “Eighty per cent of Farmers workers are on less than the Living Wage,” First Union retail, finance and commerce divisional secretary Tali Williams said, calling the business’s pay rates an embarrassment.

    “Minimum wages are not enough to live on. Farmers is well behind other major retailers with its pay rates.

    “What’s worse is that Farmers is one of the only major retailers with a performance pay system that actively keeps wages down.”

    Farmers workers typically start on around the minimum wage ($16.50 an hour), but the retailer’s pay scale tends to end at around $17.50 with any further pay increases tied to staff performance.

    This is not the first strike the retailer has faced in recent memory, with similar actions taken by staff last year.

    First Union’s ‘Worth It’ campaign, started in April 2018, aims to encourage business to pay a living wage of $20.55 per hour to employees to assist the almost 20 per cent of New Zealand workers who are at risk in insecure or low-paid jobs.

    “Farmers needs to listen to their own family values and return to the bargaining table with a Living Wage for workers and their families,” Williams said.

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  • Wolverhampton Wolves to open Shanghai Football Store

    Wolverhampton Wolves to open Shanghai Football Store

    English Premier League football team Wolverhampton Wanderers is opening a retail store in Shanghai.

    The July 15 opening, timed to coincide with the Premier League Asia Trophy in which the club is participating, will see the Wolves Megastore become one of the first anchor tenants of the Bund Financial Centre Mall. The location is situated on the Shanghai Bund near the headquarters of the club’s Chinese owner Fosun.

    “We see China as a key market for us, both in terms of fan acquisition and also developing the commercial aspirations of the club,” said Wolves MD Laurie Dalrymple, “and timing the store opening for when the first team and staff are in Shanghai was a natural fit.”

    The store will stock Wolves-inspired fashion lines unique to the Chinese market along with replica products.

    A series of Wolves pop-up stores will also be opening in Nanjing, Hangzhou and Chengdu.

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  • BoConcept Asia continues Expansion

    BoConcept Asia continues Expansion

    Furniture and homewares retailer BoConcept has opened new stores in three Asian countries in recent months as it continues to expand its footprint in the region.

    The new stores are in Kyoto, Japan, Zhengzhou, China; and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

    BoConcept already has about 300 stores in more than 65 countries and is seeking to more than double its network within the next few years.

    The Kyoto store, which opened in March, is the brand’s 16th store in Japan and its 71st in Asia.

    The Zhengzhou store, in Henan Province, marks its 24th in China and the Vietnamese stores it’s sixth in the market. Both opened last month.

    The store is located in the suburb of Thao Dien, a popular area for expats.

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  • Furniture chain falls into paperwork

    Furniture chain falls into paperwork

    Unsustainably high rents have caused furniture chain Focus on Furniture to collapse into administration.

    McGrathNicol, which took control of the business early last week, said the furniture chain’s decline was caused by high rents and unprofitable operations in New South Wales and Queensland.

    “As an urgent priority, we will be conducting a review of options for the business, including a possible exit of unprofitable stores in New South Wales and Queensland,” said McGrathNicol partner Barry Kogan.

    “It is clear that Focus on Furniture outlets in these states are struggling to compete effectively and on a profitable basis in the face of unsustainably high rents.”

    The administrators have not yet announced which stores will be closed.

    Directors of the furniture retailer have appointed McGrathNicol partners Kogan, Kathy Sozou and Matthew Caddy as voluntary administrators, McGrathNicol Restructuring announced on May 15, after the business sustained challenges to the Focus on Furniture business.

    Focus on Furniture, which has 38 retail outlets and four distribution centers in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, operates under the Focus on Furniture and BedsOnline brands.

    According to McGrathNicol, they will work with the company and its management team to restructure its physical store footprint, and recalibrate the network to the core, profitable locations in Victoria, regional New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, while intending to maintain national coverage on its online store.

    Kogan said during the administration period all deposits paid for furniture items will be honored in full and orders placed will be delivered as planned. Gift cards will also remain redeemable at all Focus on Furniture stores.

    “Long-term, the intention will be to refocus the business on the core platform of Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory where operations are profitable,” Kogan said.

    “Stores in these regions will continue to trade on a ‘business as usual’ basis during the restructuring process.”

    A first statutory meeting of creditors is expected to take place on May 27.

  • New Spotify subscribers get 3 months of Premium Music for Less than a Dollar

    New Spotify subscribers get 3 months of Premium Music for Less than a Dollar

    With a whopping 100 million paying subscribers under its belt, Spotify is unlikely to be worried about rival music streaming platforms from Pandora or Amazon, which have been frequently treating new users to killer introductory deals of late to try to catch up to the global market leader. But you can never be too careful when it comes to the competition in such a crowded industry, especially given the impressive growth rate also reported by Apple Music in the past few years.

    Enter a top-notch new offer for Spotify Premium users who have never tried the service before, including all the usual perks and benefits at a highly unusual $0.99 price. That will cover a full three months of unlimited, on-demand music streaming with no ad interruptions, high-quality audio functionality, and offline listening support as long as you sign up by June 30.

    Once your promotional period is up, you will be charged the typical $9.99 a month to continue using the Premium service, although you can cancel your subscription at any time and go back to the free tier with shuffle play-only support or try out a different platform. The terms and conditions of the new deal are relatively straightforward, and if the whole thing sounds familiar, that’s probably because Spotify has been running similar sales before.

    Just like back then, the extended 90-day trial promotion excludes previous Unlimited subscribers, as well as folks who’ve already taken advantage of 30 or 60-day free trial offers.  Last but not least, students have until June 30 to claim three months of Spotify Premium, as well as Hulu and Showtime, at a measly $0.99 total, followed by the same amazing bundle available for $4.99 each month. Apple Music obviously can’t touch these deals.

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  • Steam Link launches on iOS and Apple TV

    Steam Link launches on iOS and Apple TV

    Due to violating many of App Store’s guidelines, Valve’s Steam Link app was rejected by Apple last year, so Android users were the only ones to be able to bring desktop gaming to their smartphones and tablets.

    Well, it looks like Apple and Valve managed to address all the issues so that gamers could enjoy their library of games on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Steam Link for iOS is now available for download via App Store and enables Steam users to play their games on their mobile devices while connected to their computers.

    You just need to pair an MFI or Steam controller to your device, connect to a computer running Steam on the same local network, and you should be ready to play any game from your Steam library.

    Now, it’s worth mentioning that Steam Link requires an iPhone or iPad running iOS 10 or higher, a computer running Steam (Windows, Mac, or Linux). According to Valve, for best performance, you need to connect your computer using Ethernet to your 5GHz Wi-Fi router, then connect your iOS device to the same 5GHz band of your Wi-Fi network. Also, make sure that you’re not too far away from your router when playing games.

  • Bern’s Intersport partners with Suning in China

    Bern’s Intersport partners with Suning in China

    Bern retailer network Intersport has entered into a franchise agreement with major Chinese omnichannel retailer Suning.

    The move gives Intersport a more significant presence in the huge Chinese sports market both in the offline and online arenas. It enables Suning to launch Intersport stores in specified provinces and municipalities in China, distributing Intersport products within the territory.

    “Intersport’s global expansion is progressing,” said Intersport International CEO Steve Evers. “We are proud to announce our partnership with Suning, the leading Chinese retailer, to boost our sports retailing business in this rapidly growing market. This alliance of two strong partners with complementary businesses and competencies will form the basis for long-term success in the Chinese sports retail market.”

    “Football, fitness, and a penchant for a healthy lifestyle are increasingly popular in China,” said Suning VP Gary Gong. “For this reason, Suning took the strategic decision to extend its retail business into the sports equipment market.”

    Suning has 12,871 stores in more than 600 cities in China. Its e-commerce platform claims more than 407 million registered users.

  • Sigma chairman Resigns after remuneration protest

    Sigma chairman Resigns after remuneration protest

    Brian Jamieson, chairman of Sigma Healthcare, has said he intends to step down within the next 12 months after shareholders protested the remuneration report at Sigma’s annual general meeting on Wednesday.

    Shareholders delivered an 18 percent vote against the report during the meeting, while also opting to re-elect Jamieson, as well as David Manuel, as directors.

    The vote signalled shareholders’ frustration over Sigma’s decision to reject a takeover offer by rival healthcare business Australian Pharmaceutical Industries, as well as a protest against the remuneration report itself, which included bonuses for board members in a year that has seen Sigma’s share price fall from 80 cents per share in June 2018 to 53 cents per share.

    “This has been a defining year for Sigma,” Jamieson told shareholders at the business’s AGM.

    Over the course of the year, Sigma walked away from a supply contract with Chemist Warehouse Group, causing a major fall in the business’s share price hasn’t been recovered.

    Sigma also walked away from the proposed merger with API, which Jamieson told shareholders was “somewhat opportunistic, with Sigma at its most vulnerable” after dropping the Chemist Warehouse Group supply contract.

    “To agree to proceed may have been the easy decision, but our detailed analysis supported our view that it was not the right decision for mid to long-term shareholder value,” Jamieson said.

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  • Aeon opens first Supermarket in Myanmar

    Aeon opens first Supermarket in Myanmar

    Japanese retailer and mall operator Aeon has launched its first hypermarket in Myanmar.

    The 2800sqm store is triple the size of its 14 existing supermarkets in Southeast Asia and its first hypermarket in the region. Opened in the capital city of Yangon, it sells household items as well as food. It also features a microfinancing service for shoppers.

    The move is a response to the growing retail sector in Myanmar, which Aeon has been pursuing since its 2016 joint venture with local partner Creation Myanmar Group.

    The hypermarket includes a large home-appliance sales space and a 70sqm dining area.

    “There is further room to increase the number of stores in Myanmar as the country is still short of modern retail space,” said Aeon Orange’s GM of administration Masayasu Isozaki.

    Aeon currently operates 74 stores in Southeast Asia, with shopping malls and supermarkets in Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

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  • Indonesia’s Kimia Farma eyes Growth into Vietnam

    Indonesia’s Kimia Farma eyes Growth into Vietnam

    Indonesian state-owned pharmaceuticals firm Kimia Farma is considering expanding into Vietnam by acquiring a local company. The firm recently invested US$10.26 million in a Saudi Arabian firm, purchasing 60 percent of its shares and renaming it as Kimia Farma Dawaa.

    It is currently investigating Vietnamese regulations to discover whether or not it can own a majority stake in a local firm, a critical factor in securing its investment.

    “It depends on the regulation in the country,” said Kimia Farma finance director IGN Suharta Wijaya. “It the regulation is okay, we will enter the country this year.”

    “If the sales of each Kimia Farma outlet in the country is IDR1.5 billion ($104,877) per month, [the sales of an outlet of the Vietnamese company] could be IDR4 billion per month,” Wijaya added.

    Investment in the pharmaceutical industry is stepping up in Vietnam, with the announcement last week that Vietnam-focussed private equity firm Mekong Capital has issued funding to pharmacy chain Pharmacity.

    With 186 outlets retailing both traditional Vietnamese and Western medicines, Pharmacity is the country’s most widespread network of pharmaceutical products stores, with 1 million subscribers to its loyalty program. The firm is targeting 1000 outlets in Vietnam within two years.

    Reportedly, Kimia Farma is seeking to buy a chain with 400 outlets nationwide.