The Carlyle Group has added to its health-food portfolio with an investment in Nature Delivered, the parent company of snacks-by-post business Graze.com. The deal sees Carlyle and DFJ Esprit join Octopus and Graze’s founders as investors. Terms were not disclosed. In 2010 Carlyle bought NBTY, a US-based manufacturer and marketer of nutritional supplements and owner of Holland & Barrett. A holding page on Graze.com announces the brand’s imminent arrival in the US.
Following speculation yesterday, Sir Philip Green has confirmed he has sold a 25 per cent stake in Topshop/Topman to Leonard Green & Partners. The deal values the business at £2 billion.
UK-based Claire’s, a retailer of fashion jewellery and accessories, is ramping up its European expansion and will launch European eCommerce sites in the first half of 2013. The news follows the opening of its first Italian store, in Milan, last week. Two more stores are due to open in Italy by the end of the first quarter of 2013. Claire’s will also open its first store in Luxembourg this month. The brand’s social media strategy will follow, offering exclusive content and news of new ranges, events and collaborations.
Sportswear brand Asics is taking its eCommerce offering worldwide, extending the brand from its headquarters in Japan to the company’s key markets around the globe. It has appointed a consortium of agencies including eCommerce software provider Neoworks, software provider Hybris and full-service marketing and technology company Amaze to work on the project.
Here’s one for your next round of buzzword bingo: Today is apparently “boomerang Thursday”, with retailers expecting a spike in returns following the busiest online shopping day of the year to date, cyber Monday. Delivery and returns service CollectPlus predicts a 15 per cent increase in parcel return volumes this Thursday, compared to an average Thursday outside the peak Christmas period. With such a surge expected and just three weeks to go until the big day, the research found that a quarter (24 per cent) of online shoppers are so confident of receiving replacement items in time for Christmas that they are happy to return items for exchange.
Share