Reliance Retail’s marquee label operator Reliance Brands is the India master franchisee for Hamleys, which reputedly has its origins in the world’s oldest toy store in London that was opened in 1881.

With 167 stores across 18 countries, Hamleys gives Reliance Retail a much-needed global footprint.

Even with Reliance's considerable experience, turning a trophy into a titan isn’t a given.

Reliance Brands has completed acquisition of 100 per cent stake of Hamleys Global Holdings (HGHL) through a special purpose vehicle company set up in United Kingdom for cash consideration of GBP 67.96 million, Reliance Industries said in a BSE filing Thursday.

Rohan Mathur, senior regional sales manager - South Asia for The Lego Group spoke to ET about the toy industry, company’s India plans and its recent event in Delhi engaging the Indian government to prioritise play.

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.

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.

According to documents recently filed with the registrar of companies (RoC), accessed through business information platform Tofler, LVMH, known for its iconic monogrammed bags, clothing, perfumes and leather goods reported an increase in profit after tax by Rs 3.19 crore.

Hermes India had recorded a net profit of Rs 12.1 crore the year before. Revenue from operations rose 11% from the previous year’s Rs 98.8 crore on a standalone basis, according to its filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

BigThinx’s neural networks create a personalised 3D virtual avatar from 2D images for fashion brands and their customers.

Good Earth is now a prominent go-to destination for home decor enthusiasts and interior designers alike as it offers something for everyone.

The 280 billion euros ($320 billion) per year global luxury goods sector, already reeling from months of protests in the shopping hub of Hong Kong, was dealt a hammer blow earlier this year by the coronavirus outbreak in mainland China.

Twelve tons of the gel will be produced as soon as this week.

Giorgio Armani has donated 2 million euros in recent weeks to hospitals around Italy.

At its star Gucci label, which powers most of its profits, like-for-like sales were down 23.2% in the period, contrasting with a less pronounced 13.8% drop-off at Kering's Saint Laurent brand.

The offers are on luxury products such as watches, cars and shoes, just as many other players also join the ‘lockdown bandwagon’.

The drop in consumption by the world's second-biggest gold buyer could limit a rally in global prices.

We foresee a deferred demand. Most of the weddings in Q1 got pushed to Q3 or Q4 due to the lockdown. People may spend less money on destination weddings, clothes and other events around it. But we expect investment in jewellery for weddings, said Ajoy Chawla, CEO of Titan’s jewellery division.

Customers can purchase the precious metal from two grams upwards following which a gold ownership certificate would be sent to them on the day of Akshaya Tritiya based on the customer recommended platforms.

The lockdown has resulted in closure of retail stores across the country. Apart from this, there have been supply chain disruptions with restriction on movement of non-essential goods. While jewellery buying is generally spread throughout the year, it peaks during periods of Akshaya Tritiya, wedding and festival seasons as buying gold is considered culturally auspicious.

GJC chairman Anantha Padmanabhan said, “There may be some token booking for gold by individuals for amounts like Rs 5,000 or so. But there will be no big investments in gold as all the shops are closed. The drop in demand will be around 94%.”

Senco Gold & Diamonds is offering a discount on the gold rate. Sankar Sen, CMD of the Kolkata-based company, said the special Akshay Tritiya offer entails giving a discount of Rs 400 per gram on the gold rate during the offer period that runs from April 22-27.

"As we started getting a lot of enquires from our regular customers, we have started taking Akshay Tritiya bookings online from 21st April onwards on our e-commerce platforms. The same will be delivered to the customers post lockdown ends," Aditya Pethe, director, WHP Jewellers said.

Mr. Ajoy Chawla, CEO, Jewellery Division at Titan Company Limited said, "All 328 Tanishq stores remain shut this year and hence it would be unfair to compare numbers with last year. But the overall customer response to tanishq.co.in from key metros and even with tier-2 and tier-3 towns has been extremely encouraging.

The 49-year-old, who has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest last year, appeared before a UK court via videolink.

The company will continue to strictly comply with all government rules while reopening and running operations at the store. The company plans to reopen first 50 stores by 10th May, 2020.

On March 24, the company had decided to temporarily close its manufacturing operations at the two units with immediate effect till further notice following announcement of nationwide lockdown to curb spread of coronavirus pandemic.

The body has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief ministers to facilitate payement of wages to workers for these two months. GEMA president Vijay Jindal also sought intervention of Textile Minister Smriti Irani and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the matter.

Once markets are reopened, the industry would also be braving a changing consumer spending behavior and capacity. There could be a major lag before sales begin to pick up. Fashion as a commodity is also perishable. It may be very difficult to sell the loaded inventories in warehouses, and heavy discounts would not be an attractive option at a time of slim profit margins.

The annual index by advocacy group Fashion Revolution - now in its fifth year - ranked 250 of the world's biggest brands according to how much information they disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices and outcomes.

The outbreak has forced the world's second-biggest fashion retailer to temporarily close stores in more than a dozen markets, including all its shops in Italy.

Next said store sales plunged 52% in the 13 weeks to April 25, its fiscal first quarter, while online sales were down 32%.

The continued lockdown in April 2020 (from late March) has impacted the entire textile industry and disrupted exports, Ind-Ra said in a report.

The council had recently organised a webinar on 'Manufacturing of PPE Products under Medical Textiles', which saw about 2,000 participants, mainly apparel exporters from across the country.

Macy's, like many retailers, has had to close its stores, furlough employees, suspend dividend and tap into credit facilities to survive the financial hit caused by the lockdowns.

Kickended by Silvio Lorusso is online database artwork archiving the Kickstarted campaigns that got not even a single penny. This competitive aesthetics of failure has been able to attract the attention of major national newspapers (from the British “The Guardian” →

Isn’t ASCII Art a perfect form of “graffiti” in 2010s? The 8-bit aesthetics is among the strongest visual references connecting the analogue recent past with the omni-digital present, so why not adopt it to finally have some public art embedded →

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.

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.

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.

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.

Before Viom Networks, Syed, who studied at Wharton, US, had worked with Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel and Coca-Cola.

, Jawed Habib and Jawed Habib Express, across India's small and big towns, besides metro cities, Jawed Habib said.

Its total income from operation was up 7.59 per cent at Rs 419.29 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 389.68 crore in the same period last fiscal.

With this acquisition, a total of 18 outlets will become a part of O2 Spa and would be known as Zazen Spa from the house of O2 Spa.

To help new mothers ease back into work, they can also avail of reduced work hours for two continuous weeks immediately after resuming work.

Beauty & wellness co expected to spend Rs 100 crore on acquisition, integration and category development of on-demand beauty services startup.