The new store was organised with local football magazine Over the Pitch. “Seoul has long been a key target city for Paris Saint-Germain, a core pillar of our international strategy, and so we are thrilled today to step up our commitment to the market and become the first European club to launch an official store in Korea, with this innovative retail concept,” said the club’s head of diversification and merchandising, Fabien Allègre. The venue, which opened last week, includes the licensed store, a themed cafe and a display of the team’s football jerseys. CSIRO eyes coloured cotton The CSIRO has claimed that it has learned how to grow cotton in different colours – from bright yellows and oranges to deep purples, instead of the traditional white. According to the organisation, this naturally colourful cotton could be a boon to the environment, as toxic chemicals and bleaches are not required in the dyeing process. The CSIRO cotton, still in its early phases of development, is genetically modified. It will be several months before the colourful plant tissue now in petri dishes grows into flowering cotton plants; only then will the scientists be certain of their success, the ABC reports. However, as Forbes points out, coloured cotton has been around for quite a while, and was actually a big deal in early 1990s fashion. California cotton breeder Sally Fox first rolled out her trademarked Foxfiber® in the 1980s in hues of brown and green. It was sold by everyone from Levi’s, Ikea and LL Bean to Land’s End and Jockey, Forbes reports, but then flopped, crushed by international competition and a pause in interest in eco-fashion. Fox is sceptical about the CSIRO’s optimism. “They don’t know if the cotton can be laundered or if the colour will stay in,” she told Forbes. Lawson unveils prefabs in Japan Japanese convenience store chain Lawson is launching a series of prefabricated stores in China that will save money on construction and give rise to a more flexible expansion strategy. The first outlet was set to open in Nanjing last Friday, and around 10 stores are expected to be operational by the end of the year. Lawson partnered with Panasonic to develop the stores, which are insulated with its technology. The stores come in two sizes. The larger store layout is a little smaller than a regular 80sqm minimart, while the smaller is a kiosk suitable for transit stations. Ralph Lauren seeks reset Ralph Lauren CEO Patrice Louvet and COO and CFO Jane Nielsen announced that to combat the precipitous decline in its fashion business, the company was going to expand and focus on home furnishings. First-quarter results were dismal for the US fashion retailer, with revenues falling 66 per cent year over year, from US$1.4 billion in first-quarter 2019 to US$487.5 million ($1.9 billion to $673.5 million). Revenues were down most in North America, declining 77 per cent overall, including a 93 per cent decline in wholesale revenues. But the first-quarter news wasn’t good elsewhere either, with Europe off 67 per cent and Asia down 34 per cent. Uniqlo sales defy pandemic In July, Fast Retailing Group’s Uniqlo has reported a 4.4 increase in same-store sales on a year-on-year basis, with total sales including online rising by 4.7 per cent. In the previous month, the Japanese retailer experienced a 26.2 per cent increase in same-store sales, despite the company’s and analysts’ forecasts of a 50 per cent annual profit decline of ¥130 billion ($1.7 billion), owing to the pandemic. Given the popularity of loungewear, it’s possible that the pandemic may have helped to lift results. The brand has also found success through its new range of reusable “Airism” masks. Patent-pending, the masks’ filters are said to block virus and bacteria particles while remaining cool and comfortable to wear. Amazon gets nod on Deliveroo stake Amazon has been given approval to buy a minority stake in UK food delivery business Deliveroo, ending a lengthy battle by the companies to convince the Competition and Markets Authority that the deal would not harm competition. Amazon will now have a 16 per cent holding in Deliveroo. “When looking at any merger, the CMA’s role is to assess whether consumers will lose out from a substantial lessening of competition,” Stuart McIntosh, inquiry chair of the CMA, told CNBC. “We have not found this to be the case given the scale of Amazon’s current investment, but if it were to increase its shareholding in Deliveroo, that could trigger a further investigation by the CMA.”