• Reuters reports that UK retailer Tesco plans to eliminate some 4,500 jobs from its Metro store division in an effort “to improve the efficiency of a format that is increasingly used by customers daily rather than for a traditional weekly shop.” The retailer, according to the story, “is restructuring operations in response to changing consumer habits, driven by the rise of online shopping and increased competition from discounters Aldi and Lidl.
“The company said the changes in its 153 Metro stores - medium-sized shops found on Britain’s shopping street and by railway stations - would allow it to shift stock more quickly to the shelves and cut the time it was held in the store room.”
• The Wall Street Journal reports that “Tyson Foods and other major chicken companies said they received subpoenas from the Justice Department, signaling an expansion of a criminal investigation into allegations they colluded to prop up prices.”
Similar subpoenas apparently have been issued to Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. and Perdue.
The regulatory interest follows accusations by Walmart and other food companies that “processors coordinated chicken breeding to hold down production, monitoring one another’s operations through an industry benchmarking service, while reporting abnormally high prices to an industry index used in some supply contracts with grocery stores.”
• The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that “Barneys New York Inc. is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection and nearing an agreement with lenders for a financing package that would give the luxury retailer time to find a buyer … The restructuring plan under discussion calls for Barneys, which operates 13 department stores and nine warehouse stores, to immediately shut down most of its locations and look for a buyer for seven core stores.”
The story goes on to point out that “the retailer, controlled by the New York hedge fund Perry Capital, struggled to navigate the rise of e-commerce as well as a steep rent hike for its flagship store in Manhattan … Barneys’ travails come as traditional retailers are struggling with the shift to online shopping and facing off against a host of technology-driven startups like Net-a-Porter, an online fashion seller, and The RealReal Inc., which lets consumers buy or sell secondhand luxury goods.”
This would be Barneys’ second trip to bankruptcy.
• USA Today reports that “a day after closing 29 restaurant locations, Perkins & Marie Callender’s LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday … The Memphis, Tennessee-based company said Monday it plans to sell its Perkins’ business and a segment of its Foxtail bakery business, which supplies to its restaurants and distributors to ‘Perkins Group LLC.’ This is an arrangement known as a ‘stalking horse’ bid and sets a floor for bidding on the company's assets with a court-supervised auction expected in September.”
More than 1,000 employees are affected by the store closures.
• MarketWatch reports that “Yum Brands will shutter hundreds of Pizza Hut locations, bringing the total U.S. store count to about 7,000, as it makes the transition to a fast-casual delivery format from a dine-in setup.”
There currently are 7,496 Pizza Hut locations in the US, according to the story.
“The company said the changes in its 153 Metro stores - medium-sized shops found on Britain’s shopping street and by railway stations - would allow it to shift stock more quickly to the shelves and cut the time it was held in the store room.”
• The Wall Street Journal reports that “Tyson Foods and other major chicken companies said they received subpoenas from the Justice Department, signaling an expansion of a criminal investigation into allegations they colluded to prop up prices.”
Similar subpoenas apparently have been issued to Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. and Perdue.
The regulatory interest follows accusations by Walmart and other food companies that “processors coordinated chicken breeding to hold down production, monitoring one another’s operations through an industry benchmarking service, while reporting abnormally high prices to an industry index used in some supply contracts with grocery stores.”
• The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that “Barneys New York Inc. is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection and nearing an agreement with lenders for a financing package that would give the luxury retailer time to find a buyer … The restructuring plan under discussion calls for Barneys, which operates 13 department stores and nine warehouse stores, to immediately shut down most of its locations and look for a buyer for seven core stores.”
The story goes on to point out that “the retailer, controlled by the New York hedge fund Perry Capital, struggled to navigate the rise of e-commerce as well as a steep rent hike for its flagship store in Manhattan … Barneys’ travails come as traditional retailers are struggling with the shift to online shopping and facing off against a host of technology-driven startups like Net-a-Porter, an online fashion seller, and The RealReal Inc., which lets consumers buy or sell secondhand luxury goods.”
This would be Barneys’ second trip to bankruptcy.
• USA Today reports that “a day after closing 29 restaurant locations, Perkins & Marie Callender’s LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday … The Memphis, Tennessee-based company said Monday it plans to sell its Perkins’ business and a segment of its Foxtail bakery business, which supplies to its restaurants and distributors to ‘Perkins Group LLC.’ This is an arrangement known as a ‘stalking horse’ bid and sets a floor for bidding on the company's assets with a court-supervised auction expected in September.”
More than 1,000 employees are affected by the store closures.
• MarketWatch reports that “Yum Brands will shutter hundreds of Pizza Hut locations, bringing the total U.S. store count to about 7,000, as it makes the transition to a fast-casual delivery format from a dine-in setup.”
There currently are 7,496 Pizza Hut locations in the US, according to the story.
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