Reliance Brands will take Hamleys toy stores to the US and Canada to capitalise on the vacuum created by liquidation of one the world’s largest toy store chain Toys R Us.

Pestering by children and parental guilt has helped the toy industry grow to $1.5 billion in the past few years.

More than two years after filing for bankruptcy, Toys 'R' Us has managed to make a comeback with the support of a competitor, just in time for the holiday season. The iconic toy brand has relaunched its website, shortly after US retail chain Target announced a partnership with the defunct brand's parent company Tru Kids Brands.

Hanung Toys and Textile Ltd owes Rs 2,300 crore from a consortium of 15 lenders led by state-owned PNB, which alone has exposure of Rs 599 crore.

It has hired Sumeet Yadav, former CEO of South African restaurant chain Nando’s in India, to head Hamleys, according to two people aware of the development.

​​H​​anung Toys and Textiles Ltd (borrowing account) dealing with the bank since 2008 had availed various credit facilities under consortium arrangement wherein, Karnataka Bank was one of the member banks, it said in a regulatory filing.

The Centre, in the Union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has proposed raising the import duty on toys from 20 per cent to 60 per cent from the next fiscal, saying that the step would support the MSMEs and promote local manufacturing.

Imports account for almost 85 per cent of the total toys' demand in the country and only the remaining 15 per cent of the sale is met by the domestic manufacturers, according to the industry.

Myntra has launched toys from the stables of Hot wheels, Funskool, Lego, Barbie and Simba on its platform.

Sony has roped in brand licensing company Black White Orange to roll out kids’ consumer products

The Indian unit of Unicharm Corporation has moved within striking distance of market leader Procter & Gamble in the Indian diaper market.

"We are moving more towards omni-channel, and the drive is well underway. Within the next year we will complete the transition," he added.

Earlier this month, Ratan Tata had invested in Tracxn Technologies and followed it up with pet care portal DogSpot and online cashback and coupons venture CashKaro.

Toonz has signed a deal with Tariq Albassami Group for opening 10 stores in the Gulf region in the next one year.

Omni-channel kids wear retailer Toonz Retail India has announced a partnership with Tariq Albassami Group for entering the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

Timmy Sarna, CEO at DLF Brands, said the company has made Kidskart dormant since it wants to focus on brick and mortar retail which is the key focus area.

Malaysian kidswear brand Poney is waxing optimistic about India. But will it and other brands in the space succeed where so many have failed before?

The 2014 lawsuit alleged that EY's auditing facilitated an accounting fraud and sought damages from the consulting giant.

The company has designed a new system in collaboration with Microsoft to understand customer shopping behaviour, likening it to using Google-like analytics offline.

The shift in preferences from gender-specific colours and home-grown labels to branded outfits has led to a phenomenal growth in kids’ clothing in India.

In the past five years there have been a lot of changes in the mentioned segment including preference for branded kids’ apparel.

612 League sells its products through 48 EBOs and 450 points of sales across the country. "We will also increase our points of sales to 800 in 4 years," he said.

Toonz is also launching new collection of its home brand Wowmom, Superyoung and Superyoung Celebration.

which are high on potential and aspirations.From mix point of.

Concept Group, one of Russia’s leading fashion retailers, creates collections and sells women’s clothing, accessories as well as children’s wear through its own retail stores.

Fashion e-commerce platform Voonik on Monday announced its foray into kids wear segment.

It is alleged that the company and its officials fabricated balance sheets to avail a loan which was not repaid to the bank, they said.

Traditionally in India, baby garments like rompers, dresses, and inner-wear were purchased from small stores while branded garments were bought by the wealthy.

​​FirstCry plans to expand Oi Playschool — which currently operates about 55 centres in Hyderabad and Bengaluru — across the country with over 1,000 centres in five years.

The company, one of the largest in its space, sells just about everything a child and a new mother needs - apparel, footwear, toys, books, feeding & nursing products, soaps, oils, powders, baby monitors, strollers and baby bedding.

Offline traders' body CAIT has argued that e-commerce companies are misinterpreting MHA's new lockdown guidelines and "twisting (them) in their favour to misguide the various state governments and authorities and to create unnecessary confusion." The government has extended lockdown till May 17. It, however, gave some relaxations for business activities and people's movement within areas with limited or no COVID-19 cases.

Until late Sunday, only a handful of states including UP, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Odisha, Delhi and Uttarakhand issued notifications on the lines of MHA’s Friday order.

Amazon’s India unit has contracted 2 million sq ft while Walmart-backed Flipkart has contracted 1 million sq ft across Bengaluru, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Coimbatore, said multiple persons aware of the development.

The funding comes at a time when the company’s sales and margins have doubled, compared to the same period last year.

​​​The intention is to bring all B2B, B2C, consumer-facing, consumer-based content platforms, apps-based commerce and IoT device-based services under the policy, potentially engulfing products like the Amazon Echo, which is powered by artificial intelligence-driven virtual assistant Alexa, and MG Hector, the Internet-enabled vehicle from Morris Garages in the regulatory realm of e-commerce.

They also suggested that the levy should not be imposed on services or goods that are executed online but delivered offline – for instance, online hotel bookings, air ticketing and even heavily regulated financial services – besides seeking a clear definition of what comprises online sale of goods, services and the digital or electronic platform.

E-commerce companies have been permitted to sell all items in Orange and Green Zones starting from Monday, the first day of the third phase of the nationwide lockdown that began on March 25.

Sources in the company said, McNeal’s role will now be divided between Sriram Venkataraman, who is expected to take over as the CFO of Flipkart as well as the fashion etailer Myntra, and Adarsh Nahata who is currently PhonePe’s CFO.

In his new role, Venkataraman will be responsible for key finance operations and functions at Flipkart and Myntra, including Tax, Risk Management, and Treasury.

Amazon has become a lifeline for consumers facing lockdowns and restrictions around the world, and the company is in the process of adding some 175,000 new employees to cope with the surging demand. But the company has also faced protests from warehouse workers and activists who claim Amazon has failed to do enough to keep them safe.

The Walmart-owned company said it had seen an increase in searches for consumer electronic products, including personal grooming equipment such as trimmers.

Highlighting that network capacity and higher bandwidth services have proved to be crucial, not only during the pandemic itself, but also for e-commerce and economic inclusion in general, it said in an information note: “What can WTO members do to improve communications networks and services?”

As per estimates by Forrester Research, regions in Green and Orange zones accounted for 30-35% sales of ecommerce firms prior to the lockdown.

The death marks the fourth confirmed COVID-19-linked death of an Amazon worker, following deaths in Hawthorne, California; Tracy, California and the death of a Staten Island, New York, worker who was stationed at the JFK8 fulfillment centre.

Buying online might become pricier or less convenient, we might need to rethink fast deliveries, and our neighborhoods may look different.

Under the initiative, Amazon will deliver orders to a designated delivery point in the vicinity of the containment zone, from where volunteers will further deliver the packages to customers' doorstep, the company said in a statement.

The Centre, in its revised guidelines on May 1, had allowed “standalone shops” to operate in the red zones, while it restricted operations of e-commerce companies to sale of essential items only.

Demand for razors, epilators, trimmers and hair colour soars on ecomm platforms during the lockdown

Even at locations open to deliveries, e-commerce players are facing manpower crunch due to travel restrictions on delivery partners.

Companies need to come up with strategies to keep the lights on, both by keeping control on the cash burn as well as generating revenue in these difficult times.