Consumer and retail in the news

Issue 525

Here are this week’s top stories in the consumer and retail sector:

John Lewis partners with Google to boost AI functions including customer service bot
(The Times - you may require a subscription to view this article)

Australian Kmart seeks European expansion
(Retail Week) 

PE firms TDR Capital and Sycamore Partners in talks of a joint bid to acquire Subway
(Reuters) 

Clintons to close nearly 20% of its shops in effort to stay afloat
(BBC News) 

Farfetch names Tim Stone as new CFO following time at Amazon and Ford Motor Company
(Retail Gazette) 

TikTok Shop launches 'Fulfilled by TikTok' program to pick, pack and ship merchants' products to the TikTok community in the UK
(Retail Week) 

Miravia, part of the Alibaba group, partners with CommerceHub for expansion of European operations
(Retail Week) 

Sephora debuts Sephora Sounds initiative to "amplify a diverse range of musical artists"
(Global Cosmetics News) 

Spectrum Brands, owner of Russell Hobbs, George Foreman and Remington, reports strong profits
(Business Live) 

Food price inflation unlikely to fall soon, cautions chief economist at Bank of England
(Financial Times - you may require a subscription to view this article)