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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African retailer Woolworths said on Thursday it was expanding its casual and sports leisure wear ranges to reduce reliance on formal wear, after reporting a rise in half-year profit for the first time since 2015.
Shoppers walk into a Woolworths store at a shopping center in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, file. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
The company aims to tap stronger demand for casual and sportswear as the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated a shift to working from home.
Clothes’ retailers have recently struggled to keep up with the change in consumer preference as they battle a drop in footfalls in malls and shopping centres.
By Reuters Staff
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FILE PHOTO: Shoppers walk down Oxford Street, as a second lockdown in England ends, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in London, Britain, December 2, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville
LONDON (Reuters) - There will be at least five weeks between each step to ease lockdown measures in England, the government said on Monday as it set out key dates to reopen schools, shops, restaurants and other parts of the economy.
“It takes around four weeks for the data to show the impact of easing restrictions and the government will provide a further week’s notice to the public and businesses ahead of any further changes,” it said in its roadmap document.
Walmart Inc expects full-year sales and profit growth to slow as it reinvests in its business, after revenue soared to $560 billion last year as people stocked up on groceries during the pandemic.
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(Reuters) - Walmart Inc expects full-year sales and profit growth to slow as it reinvests in its business, after revenue soared to $560 billion last year as people stocked up on groceries during the pandemic.
The world’s biggest retailer, which employs 1.5 million people in the United States, also said it is raising wages to more than $15 per hour on average. About half of Walmart’s hourly U.S. workers will earn $15 an hour or more, though there are some roles that will still start at $11 an hour, the company said.
Shares in Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart closed down 6.5% on Thursday. The company has invested heavily in online, advertising and healthcare businesses over the past year, using pandemic-led sales momentum to diversify beyond brick-and-mortar retail.
Shopify Inc hinted revenue growth would slow this year, as vaccine rollouts encourage people to return to stores, after the Canadian e-commerce firm trounced profit and revenue expectations for the holiday quarter on soaring online demand.