(April 23, 2024) - Nestlé has appointed a new CEO for Europe. Nestlé AG has announced that Guillaume Le Cunff will become CEO of Europe and a member of the Executive Committee on July 1, succeeding Marco Settembri, who is retiring after 36 years with the company. He is currently the CEO of Nespresso and became President of Nespresso US Market in 2015. Mark Schneider, CEO of Nestlé, thanked Marco Settembri and described Guillaume Le Cunff as a seasoned business leader with a wealth of experience in brand building, innovation, e-commerce and sustainability.
Luckin built the largest coffee roasting base. With a total investment of 120 million US dollars and an annual production capacity of over 30,000 tons, Luckin Coffee (Jiangsu) roasting base was opened and put into operation in Kunshan. This is Luckin Coffee's largest productive investment to date, and it is also the largest single coffee roasting base in China. It is estimated that the annual output value is 1.5 billion yuan, and the annual roasting production and processing of coffee beans is 30,000 tons, accounting for nearly 20% of the national coffee roasting capacity. The base builds a green factory in accordance with China's three-star green building certification standards.
Clothing & Beauty
Alexander McQueen appoints Chief Brand & Communications Officer. Alexander McQueen, a Kering Maison, has appointed Gaelle Collet as Chief Brand & Communications Officer, effective May 15, and will report directly to the Maison's CEO, Gianfilippo Testa. Julia Goddard, President of EMEA, has left the company to join British fashion retailer Harvey Nichols. Gaelle Colllet has worked as a consultant for Spanish beauty groups Puig and Schiaparelli, and has held PR communications roles for luxury brands such as Saint Laurent, Dior and Chanel. Prior to her appointment, she spent nearly five years at Celine as the brand's Global PR and Media Director.
Giorgio Armani, the founder, said he did not rule out mergers and acquisitions or listings. The founder of Italian luxury brand Giorgio Armani said in an interview that self-management remains the group's future value, but did not rule out the possibility of merging with larger companies or listing on the exchange. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Giorgio Armani controls almost all of his company's shares, with a net worth of $6.6 billion. According to a secret document of Giorgio Armani, which was adopted in 2016, the company will maintain continuity of style after the death of its founder and may open its doors to the capital market, giving priority to listing under the name "Armani". Currently, three of Giorgio Armani's grandchildren have become members of the Board of Directors, but none of them are eligible for heirs.
lululemon will be closing a distribution center. Canadian yoga apparel brand lululemon has announced that it will open a large new warehouse outside Los Angeles and plans to close its distribution center in Washington by the end of this year, laying off about 128 employees starting June 21. The company has filed a notice with the state's Department of Employment Security and said that some of the employees who have been retained will be transferred to other distribution centers. Notably, the leases for the DC closure expire in July 2025.
Children's Wear Group Anel terminated its acquisition of 22% of the shares of Shenzhen Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. Anel announced that it will terminate the acquisition of 22% of the shares of Shenzhen Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. for 440 million yuan in cash. Previously, Anel received the third letter of concern from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and was once again asked whether there was any controversy and significant uncertainty in the acquisition, and then the company issued an announcement on the postponement of the reply to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's letter of concern. The company has released a performance forecast for 2023, and it is expected that the company will lose 75.8762 million to 118 million yuan during the reporting period, and the net loss after deducting non-recurring gains and losses will be 79.7458 million to 124 million yuan.
Retail and e-commerce
Yu Donglai: Fat Donglai made a profit of 140 million last year. Yu Donglai, the founder of Fat Donglai, said in an interview with the media that he originally planned to make a profit of 20 million last year, but the actual profit reached 140 million by the end of the year. He also revealed that the wages of the company's employees continue to rise, with a minimum income of about 7,000 yuan per month, while the salaries of employees in many stores are generally more than 8,000 yuan.
Costco's online platform "Costco Arrives at Home" was launched. According to Costco news, Costco's official shopping platform has now been opened, and the "Costco Home Delivery" WeChat mini-program has been launched, with Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Shenzhen in Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Shenzhen, and the delivery range is about 8 kilometers near each store. A delivery fee of 20 yuan will be charged for each order, and the minimum delivery amount is 299 yuan.
Online retail sales rose 12.4% to RMB3.3 trillion in the first quarter. In the first quarter, the national online retail sales reached 3.3 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.4%. The Ministry of Commerce focused on monitoring the growth of online service consumption by 28.5%, of which online travel and online catering increased by 95% and 27.8% respectively, and digital consumption became a new growth point, with smart wearable equipment and electronic audio-visual products increasing by 30.9% and 23.4% respectively.
Baozun E-commerce appoints a new chief financial officer. Baozun E-Commerce, Gap's China agency, has appointed Yanjie Zhu as chief financial officer, succeeding Arthur Yu, effective April 19. Arthur Yu will continue to serve as president of the company's e-commerce business. Yanjie Zhu has extensive cross-industry financial management experience, having held senior positions in various companies from 2013 to 2022. She joined Baozun E-commerce in 2020 as Vice President of Finance and other key positions.
Kroger and Albertsons announced that they have amended their definitive agreement with C&S Wholesale Grocery to sell some of the assets associated with the proposed merger. The revised divestiture plan responds to concerns raised by U.S. federal and state antitrust regulators regarding the original agreement. The enhanced divestiture package includes a modified and expanded store set and additional non-store assets to further position C&S competitive in the retail market following the completion of the proposed merger. Specifically, the updated divestiture plan will increase the total number of stores by 166, including 579 stores, which will be sold to the new owner, C&S, and continue to operate as they do today.
Albertsons Companies, a leader in U.S. grocery stores, reported fourth-quarter results. Revenue was flat at $18.34 billion a year ago, but the company's same-store sales rose only 1.0%. Adjusted EBITDA was approximately $915.8 million, compared to $1.05 billion in the year-ago quarter.
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