Le Ossa dei Caprotti’ presentation – Soroptimist, 29 October 2025

I really stopped. During that long difficult period we talked about earlier, I stopped completely. It was a time of silence, of isolation. But then, with the end of the court case and Covid, I chose to look forward. I decided to see the Covid crisis as an opportunity to help. From there my personal rebirth and my work in the Guido Venosta Foundation was born

Quick Take — Consumption at a standstill: restaurants and retail will close 2025 with zero growth

… There is also alarm over receipts and in-store traffic. The reduction in the number of receipts, especially in the clothing and accessories sector, continues and has not been sufficiently compensated by the increase in the average receipt. Two-thirds of the companies still see a negative trend in sales in January-August 2025 vs January-August 2024.

The decline in the number of receipts is also associated with the -3.5% drop in the number of in-store visits complained of by 59% of retailers nationwide driven by the North-East and Central regions

Source

E-Commerce: Lidl, in Italy, does what the Italians have not been able to do, i.e. counter Amazon with its own Marketplace

With this initiative, Kaufland aims to become one of the leading e-commerce players in Europe, offering a viable alternative to the large global platforms and helping to redefine the balance in continental online trade. The entry into the Italian market, in particular, represents a strategic step to intercept a steadily growing demand and to strengthen the Schwarz Group’s presence in the retail trade, both physical and digital

Quick Take — Coin concludes capital increase. New management team presented

Participating in the capital increase were Mia, a holding company of the Exelite group, owned by the entrepreneur Marco Marchi, for a total of EUR 33.2 million, Invitalia, for EUR 10 million, Sagitta Sgr, for a total of EUR 10 million and EUR 986,085, Joral Investments for EUR 1 million, Hi-Dec Edizioni for EUR 500 thousand

Strangely enough, no member of the CDA seems to have retail experience.

Read also: USA : department store market share dropped from over 14% in 1990 to less than 3% in 2024 (-78%) which says a lot about the prospects of the Coin group (which has obsolete and very expensive facilities – very high rents).

Below: Coin image from Gdoweek and an article from last May

Edited 10 September, updated 21 September 2025

Quick Take — Zara owner’s sales slow as US duties curb growth

In the first half of the year, Inditex reported a 3.8 per cent drop in sales in the Americas, including the US, its second largest source of revenue, due to ‘complex’ markets. In addition to duties, the strong dollar also weighed.

Inditex said on Wednesday that sales grew 1.7 per cent year-on-year… Analysts had accepted that Inditex’s era of stellar performance was over, but had predicted faster growth of 3.4%.

Quick Take — Sycamore completes acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance: the end of Stefano Pessina’s dream

The private equity firm acquired assets in transactions valued at up to $23.7bn. New York-based private equity firm Sycamore Partners completed the acquisition of retail pharmacy company Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc(WBA).

WBA is an integrated healthcare, pharmacy and retail leader serving millions of customers and patients every day. With approximately 12,500 locations in the US, Europe, and Latin America, its consumer brands include Walgreens, Boots, Duane Reade, No7 Beauty Company, and Benavides.

WBA, under the Boots brand , also has a presence in Milan and was a supplier to Esselunga (beauty products).

Covid- 19, Amazon and Walmart contributed to its sale to Sycamore.

Quick Take — Food Marketing Institute (USA): 80% of suppliers expect duties to affect prices and supply chains

According to IMF data shared in that briefing, 55% of consumers reported in July that tariffs were their main concern. This sentiment rose from 54% in March and 49% in January…

How do these concerns translate into consumer prices, especially since the food-at-home consumer price index (CPI-index of inflation) has continued to remain fairly constant

…80% of food in the US is produced domestically, some categories are particularly dependent on imports … Dr. Ricky Volpe, associate professor of agribusiness at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, provided additional context during the briefing, using the example of a sultana and cinnamon bagel made with ingredients that are primarily imported.

“If 50 per cent of a bagel is subject to an average tariff of 18 per cent, the total expected increase in the cost of producing a bagel will be between 9 per cent and 10 per cent of the cost of production, which is not insignificant. These food companies are really operating on low margins, so this is a cost increase that is likely to be passed on through the chain “…

The impact of tariffs on non-food will be much more important (with China being the No 1 producer and importer), with a much longer lead time than food though, because consumption is slower and there are certainly stocks.