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Latin America
Selection, Price Draw Mexican Shoppers to US
Middle- and upper-income shoppers from Mexico are streaming across the border to spend money at US retail outlets, providing much-needed business to a struggling retail sector.
Shoppers often face multiple searches at Mexican police roadblocks and hours of delays at border crossings, but the wider selection of products at substantially lower prices motivates them to keep heading north, the New...
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Wal-Mart Announces Tender Offer for Chile’s D&S
Wal-Mart Stores will launch a tender offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares and American Depositary Shares of Distribución y Servicio D&S SA, Wal-Mart said in a statement.
The tender offer price is denominated at $0.408 per common share—a premium of approximately 37.4% over the average closing price for the prior 30 trading days.
D&S, Chile’s largest grocer, has a market...
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Grup Gigante Sells Stake in Radio Shack de Mexico
Radio Shack Corp. is now the sole owner of Radio Shack de Mexico and its 186 stores after buying joint-venture partner Grup Gigante‘s stake of the Mexican unit for some $42.4 million, or 563.2 million pesos, reports Dow Jones.
The sale follows months of failed negotiations to find common ground on an expansion strategy.
“Upon analyzing the different scenarios and conditions put forth, and not...
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Nielsen Consumer Confidence Index: Developing Markets More Optimistic
One in two consumers will try to save on gas and electricity, and spend less on new clothes; 47% will cut back on out-of-home entertainment; and one in three will switch to cheaper groceries.
While the world remains ensconced in credit crunch mode, consumers in the world’s fastest developing countries tend to believe that the global recession will be over within a year, according to the Nielsen...
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US Healthcare Consumers More Likely to Consider Price, Value in OTC Purchases
Compared with the global average, US consumers place more importance on price and value in over-the-counter (OTC) medication purchases, according to a global online survey by Nielsen and the Association of the European Self-Medication Industry (AESGP):
30% of US consumers consider price important when choosing OTC products, while on average only 17% of global consumers do. Only Japanese...Continue Reading »
Global Companies to Up Commercial Card Usage
More than seven in ten (74%) financial, treasury and cash management executives from 11 countries polled are satisfied with their commercial payment card programs, according to Visa Inc.‘s Visa Global Cash Management Survey.
Half (50%) of respondents currently use commercial payment cards to make payments as part of their overall cash management strategies. Moreover, in the next 12-18 months,...
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Gap Expands Overseas With Franchise Agreements
To make up for lackluster sales in the US, Gap is tapping into foreign markets with plans to expand into Mexico, Egypt, and Jordan via franchised partnerships, writes MarketWatch.
The companies will sell Gap apparel but market it under their own brand names.
Though sales at overseas Gap stores open at least a year declined2% YOY in August, “other” sales - including those at franchisees - have...
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Avon Doubles Profits in Q2
Tremendous gains in emerging markets such as Russia and Brazil boosted Avon’s profits in the second quarter ($235.6 million) to more than double 2Q07’s earnings of $112.7 million, MarketWatch writes.
Revenue rose 17%, to $2.74 billion, from $2.33 billion of the year-earlier period, partly due to the weakness of the dollar.
Sales of beauty products are up 19%, and Avon says it is “well on its...
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Office Depot Posts Net Loss, on Weak North American Demand
Office Depot’s Q2 sales slipped 1 percent to $3.6 billion. It posted a net loss of $2 million, compared with a profit of $106 million in the same quarter last year, due to lower-than-expected retail sales in its North American stores, MediaBuyerPlanner reports.
Slow sales growth from national account customers was offset by a 10 percent decrease from small and midsize customers, writes BtoB....
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Saks Opens Flagship South of the Border
Luxury department store Saks Fifth Avenue - with about 50 locations, only two of which are outside the US - has opened a flagship store in an upscale section of Mexico City, VMSD reports.
Though Mexico may seem an unlikely area for expansion of a luxury brand, 2 million households in Mexico City’s enormous metro area have incomes of $100,000 or more. Condominiums, restaurants, and several...
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