lion, and net profit was almost completely erased. Only the wines and spirits and fashion and leather goods divisions remained above zero. CEO Bernard Arnault remains very cautious about the company’s recovery, despite positive signs in China, where sales at the fashion and leather goods division grew more than 65 per cent in the second quarter. “While we have observed strong signs of an upturn in activity since June, we remain very vigilant for the rest of the year,” he said. Amazon Fresh starts free UK delivery Amazon Fresh, the online giant’s grocery service, is now free of charge to Prime members in London; the service will be rolled out across the UK by the end of this year. Online grocery sales have been on the rise since the coronavirus kept shoppers away from physical stores. In the UK, Europe’s most mature e-commerce market, people are spending £390 million a week ($710.4 million) on online shopping which is twice as much as in January of this year, Belgium-based website Retail Detail reports. Amazon wants a bigger piece of that cake: Previously, the service, where orders are delivered at home within two hours, cost £4 a month. The minimum order threshold has also been lowered to £15. Victoria Beckham Beauty launches on Tmall Victoria Beckham Beauty has launched a flagship store on Alibaba’s Tmall Global platform, marking the brand’s debut in China, Retail News Asia reports. To celebrate the launch, the brand has signed up one of China’s biggest influencers, Viya, to livestream on Tmall Global. “You can’t be a successful global brand without a solid China business – it’s just not possible these days,” said Sarah Creal, co-founder and CEO of Victoria Beckham Beauty. Creal met Beckham during a makeup collaboration with Estée Lauder in 2016 and the two teamed up to create the cosmetics brand last year. Bidders queue for JC Penney Iconic US department store chain JC Penney has denied rumours that it is about to be liquidated and said that on the contrary, three separate sale bids are being considered. The chain filed for US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 15, weighed down by debt and hit hard by coronavirus lockdowns. It has since announced the layoffs of about 1000 staff and closed 150 stores. The bidders are said to be two US mall owners, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners, and Saks Fifth Avenue owner Hudson’s Bay Co, CNBC reports. Private equity group Sycamore is still believed to be in the mix as well. JC Penney stores have all reopened now. The company said its 173 off-mall locations continue to perform better than its stores in 520 enclosed shopping malls. Sales at off-mall stores are down about 26 per cent, while sales at JC Penney stores in malls are down about 33 per cent since they have reopened. The department store chain continues to talk to its landlords to negotiate better rents. Parkson calls it quits on Vietnam Malaysian department store operator Parkson is to cease operating full-scale stores in Vietnam after years of losses. At one stage, the company had 10 stores in the country and was confident of long-term success, given it was the first overseas department store brand to enter the market. But it appears that Parkson has finally admitted defeat in a market where it moved rapidly into neighbourhoods with relatively low incomes, selling products that could be obtained cheaper elsewhere, and with archaic customer service systems. Subject to shareholder approval, it will sell the Parkson TD Plaza Shopping Centre it anchors in the northern port city of Haiphong for US$10 million, representing a $500,000 loss on book value, but a $500,000 premium on local valuation. The disposal leaves just its flagship in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. It is still unclear what will happen to the store. A large part of it has since been leased out to Uniqlo, while Muji is believed to be currently fitting out at least part of the remaining space. Vietnamese media is reporting that the store will reopen but that Parkson will only take up the ground floor. This story appears in the August 5, 2020, issue of Inside Retail Weekly.