The broad sweep of Asian retail: chains, consumers, policy and the deals that move the market.
Japan’s Aeon is completing construction of its first shopping mall in Indonesia. Its Indonesia debut follows success in Malaysia and Thailand where it is building strong networks of hypermarkets, supermarkets and mini-markets, and a more recent foray into…
A new retail store-cum-museum has opened in Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, Japan – a tribute to Snow Miku, a recently contrived animated character who promotes the region. Snow Miku, born in 2010 through a snow sculpture of local ‘virtual singer’ Hatsune Miku,…
Fresh from capturing the title of busiest international airport from London’s Heathrow, Dubai International Airport has set its sights on becoming the world’s top hub by retail sales this year as a flood of Chinese passengers add to a shopping spree. Lees…
Delta Air Lines officially began serving Starbucks Coffee on all its flights worldwide this month as part if its ongoing in-flight enhancements to its food, beverages, seats and entertainment. Mike Henny, Delta’s Director of Customer Experience, said with…
Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy says Asia, the Middle East and North America delivered excellent performance for its Sephora, DFS business arm in 2014. The world’s largest luxury goods retailer and manufacturer said the business, in its books referred to as its…
Valentine’s Day is a big deal for Indonesians (57 percent), Taiwanese (53 percent) and Singaporeans (45 percent). These three countries top a multi-market poll for being the most expectant to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year. In contrast, love is not in…
Rakuten Inc. recently announced that it would discontinue its new-graduate hiring quota, and will begin to hire new-graduates and mid-career engineers throughout the year. Since 2010, the company has been accelerating its global expansion, and by making…
Vietnamese consumer confidence continued to see rapid improvement in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the latest Consumer Confidence Index released by Nielsen, a global information and measurement company. Nielsen said Vietnam had become the ninth…
Indonesian consumers grew more optimistic about their economic prospects in January, thanks to the recent fuel price cuts, according to surveys from the central bank and a state-controlled research institute. Bank Indonesia’s Consumer Confidence Index, which…
The Alibaba Group has established a HKD1-billion (USD128.9 million) not-for-profit Alibaba Hong Kong Young Entrepreneurs Foundation to support young entrepreneurs in Hong Kong. The goal is to help young people start and grow businesses on marketplaces and…
Tommy Hilfiger announced recently that he will publish a memoir with Ballantine Books, an imprint of which will chronicle personal stories from his early childhood and formative years, his origins in the fashion industry, and the setbacks, triumphs, and sheer…
Apple Inc, which just became China’s number one smartphone vendor, expects to open stores in another five cities based on advertisements that it placed for retail staff. It is hiring staff for its stores in Guangzhou, Shenyang, Tianjin, Nanjing and Dalian,…
Hong Kong Customs and police have raided four properties, seizing nearly 4000 fake items in an ongoing clampdown on counterfeit rings in the city. The raids occurred in Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui and resulted in the arrests of four men aged 23-47. The seized…
Isetan Mitsukoshi has adopted a new branding positioning – and promises a new in-store concept which will make its debut in Malaysia. In a message to shareholders, CEO Hiroshi Ohnishi says the company has adopted a new corporate message for 2015 ‘This is…
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s financial arm is seeking regulatory approval to access the Chinese national police’s database so consumers can open online bank accounts with a mug shot. The financial arm, which operates the PayPal-like Alipay service, is planning…
The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. After years of fuelling the growth of luxury labels, there are signs that the global high-end consumer is starting to cool – placing a renewed emphasis on the importance of the United States and its affluent…
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Read by retail operators, investors and brand teams across Asia.