squeeze suppliers. The deal is by no means certain, and competition lawyers have said Sainsbury’s and Asda, the UK arm of Walmart, faced an uphill battle to complete the deal without having to sell so many stores that its rationale is removed. Amazon expands offering in Brazil Amazon.com says clothing and sportswear will now be available on its Brazilian site. The online retailer will offer more than 300,000 clothing products, including Alpargatas shoes and Levi’s jeans, as well as some local high-end fashion brands such as Reinaldo Lourenco. Amazon in Brazil sells only books directly; all other products are offered and delivered by third-party vendors. Pandora hires new China chief Danish jewellery retailer Pandora has recruited Geena Tok from Nike to run its operations in China. The company, the largest jewellery maker in the world by production volume, has been under pressure lately from sales on China’s grey market, in which pieces are imported from other countries and sold online at a sharp discount. China, where Pandora has 200 stores and employs some 1400 people, is seen as a growth market for all luxury brands. Tok has been with Nike for 17 years in the US, Thailand, India and now China, where she has been responsible for the sports retailer’s stores and online business. She is replacing Anthony Asinas, who is taking up a new role as Pandora’s Hong Kong and Macau chief. L’Occitane opens flagship in NYC Beauty products retailer L’Occitane has opened a stunning new flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue which it describes as a “unique immersive destination”. The 1870sqft store at 555 Fifth Avenue was designed by L’Occitane’s Daniel Contorni, international artistic director, and Paul Blackburn, VP concept design, construction & merchandising with the Hong Kong-listed, French-styled retailer. The store includes a “rain-shower” sink, an interactive skincare consultation area, a curved communal bench beneath a Mediterranean olive tree, and an enhanced fulfilment services “comptoir”. The company describes the new store as “disruptive”, geared to attracting new customers, encouraging engagement and producing user-generated content for social media. Portuguese hypermarket chain to list  Portuguese holding company Sonae has taken decisive steps towards launching an initial public offering (IPO) of its market leading food retail subsidiary. Sonae MC operates 173 Continente hypermarkets and large supermarkets in Portugal, and expects that market to be one of the fastest growing in Europe in coming years, including in smaller local stores. Barclays, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank are in the process of organising meetings with potential investors about the IPO, according to Reuters. On August 22, Sonae reported a rise in first half net income of 34.2 per cent, helped by a 7.2 per cent increase in revenues at Sonae MC to 1.9 billion euros ($3 billion). Indian leather retailer expands to Asia New Delhi-based leather retailer Hidesign has announced plans to open new flagship stores in Singapore and Indonesia, as part of a major global expansion. The 40-year-old company is also planning to open stores this year in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Kuwait and 12 new stores in its home market of India in cities including Goa, Kolkata, Indore, Jaipur, Varanasi and Lucknow. Hidesign’s global store network spans India, South Africa, Kenya, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia the Czech Republic and recently Bosnia. Chairman Dilip Kapur said the company wants to become a more viable brand internationally. “Our immediate focus is to expand our luxury range Atelier Hidesign – made from ostrich and deer leather – starting at ₹30,000 ($586) by adding new colours and designs to the existing women’s range and launching men’s collection.”