New World Seals Deal for Louis Vuitton's New Hong Kong Megastore
The store is expected to open at the end of 2026 at New World's glitzy K11 Musea mall, following extensive renovations on a space that will be one of the label's largest in Asia, some of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing matters that are not yet public.
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Foxconn second quarter revenue rises 15.82% on year
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and Apple's biggest iPhone assembler, on Saturday reported second quarter revenue rose 15.82% from the same period last year to a record for the quarter. Foxconn, also a major supplier to artificial intelligence chip firm Nvidia, said it expected third-quarter business to grow on quarter and on year.
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The battle to save a high street giant from Woolworths' fate
The new owners of WH Smith's high street shops have vowed to arrest decades of decline after swooping on the business in a cut-price deal. Trading under the fictitious new name TG Jones, hundreds of stores are poised to be revamped with postal and banking services as part of a bold attempt to emulate Boots and become 'a vanguard retailer' that is part of the 'lifeblood' of communities. The changes are at the centre of a comprehensive restructuring plan put together by the investment firm Modella Capital, which completed a takeover of WH Smith's estate of 464 shops on Monday. The deal excludes branches in train stations and airports, which will continue to operate under the WH Smith name. Modella's buyout followed months of intense negotiations, including a last-minute reduction to the price tag after a deterioration in trading. The shops will continue to be run by Sean Toal, the managing director of WH Smith's high street arm since 2019. The introduction of vital services alongside everyday products is 'really important', if the shops want to become more relevant and the business is to avoid the same fate as other high profile retailers that fell out of favour, said Steve Curtis, Modella's chairman. 'We think there's a really exciting story here for a business that could have been Woolworths Two…There's no reason why, with the proper love and care and a bit of support, it should ever close. It should be in rude health,' Curtis added. Woolworths was a familiar presence on British high streets for more than 90 years until its collapse in 2008. Toal said: 'The high street is crying out for more services. There is a sense that the average high street is sort of being hollowed out. And a lot of the stuff that really makes a high street is just kind of fast disappearing.' Curtis added that the Post Office already has counters in nearly 200 branches, but the ambition was to have one 'of some size in every single one of our stores'. Modella points to the way Boots has managed to remain an enduring feature of town centres by providing prescriptions, vaccinations and advice for minor health ailments. Shops will be further rejuvenated through tie-ups with Hornby, the toymaker behind brands such as Airfix and Scalextric, as well as fantasy games sensation Warhammer. There are also plans for a fresh push into music after WH Smith reintroduced vinyl last year following a 30-year hiatus. Pick-and-mix – once a staple of Woolworths' shops – could make a comeback too. Curtis likened its ambitious plans to pointing a 'great old tanker' 'in a slightly different direction'. The changes will 'take a period of time' but 'by the time you get to the end of it, it's going to look quite different – it'll be a different vibe'. WH Smith has faced enduring ridicule for allowing its stores to become tired and rundown. Eventually, the neglect became the inspiration for a Twitter account called @WHS_Carpet, which dedicated its time to naming and shaming the shabbiest premises. When its plans to exit the high street were unveiled in March, industry figures expressed fears that as many as half its shops would be quickly jettisoned – but the opposite is true, Modella promises. A longstanding policy of shrinking the estate by shutting the worst-performing stores will be paused. Some are now in line for a much-needed facelift. Modella, which also owns Hobbycraft and the Original Factory Store, will pay £40m to take control, down from the £52m that was agreed when the deal was first unveiled, for a business that made £15m of operating profit in the preceding six months. Its revival rests on an ambitious cost-cutting plan in which landlords are persuaded to sign up to more affordable rents, and suppliers agree to more favourable terms. Money saved will then be reinvested in the turnaround. 'We're going to need help from a group of stakeholders to help us rebuild this grand old institution into something that it deserves to be,' Curtis said. With the WH Smith name still appearing on hundreds of shops at airports, train stations and hospitals, Modella was forced to come up with a new brand for the shops, which have operated under the same name since the first WH Smith shop opened in Mayfair, central London, in 1792, when George III was on the throne. The 'TG Jones' name was invented by Modella directors. Marketing experts have cast doubt on the rebranding exercise, while the reaction of shoppers suggests it will be a battle to convince some that the business still has a future after its relaunch. A goodbye video posted on WH Smith's official Instagram account prompted a flurry of negative responses: 'Yeah, you've just killed the whole business mate. Nobody is going to TG Jones,' one reportedly said. 'Who the hell is TG Jones?' asked another, while a third described the redesign as 'horrific'. In a letter to staff, Modella said: 'As a very well-known surname in the UK, Jones feels like a worthy successor to Smith and carries the same sense of family.' With a logo made up of the same blue and white colours that have long been a feature of the WH Smith branding, customers will soon be won over, Curtis predicted. 'If you're in a town, you've lived there all your life, and you've walked down that street all your life, and the cover facia is still exactly the same white, exactly the same blue, you probably won't notice it,' he said. The signage on the stores will be changed to 'TG Jones' over the coming weeks and negotiations with landlords will begin in earnest, with Modella hoping to persuade them to grant more affordable rents. Shop owners will be coaxed with the offer of longer leases than they've become accustomed to under WH Smith. Around 350 stores are on leases of less than two years but Modella believes that by signing up to longer contracts – perhaps 10 years – landlords may agree to an initial period that is rent-free, which would release cash to re-invest in refurbishments. 'If we go to that landlord and say ... 'We'll use all that cash and we'll make that shop look really beautiful'… what that's doing is improving the asset. It also gives us a long-term partnership. So it's investing together,' Curtis said. 'Vacancies on UK high streets are running around about 14pc ... There's a lot of vacant units, so if they [landlords] can work with a partner that's prepared to put a long-term commitment down ... For some of these landlords these are pension funds for their families ... it creates security,' Toal said. There are even plans for several new store openings. 'We're not in Manchester city centre ... We should be ... and we're under-represented as a retailer in London,' Toal said. The last time WH Smith opened a store on a UK high street was decades ago. 'We want to send a message to the market ... We want to open stores where it's viable to do so,' Curtis said. Modella is betting that suppliers will be similarly receptive. 'I think suppliers thought this business hasn't got a future. They now think, 'boy, has it got a future' ... which is brilliant for them, because rather than supplying 100 stores in three years' time, they're hopefully going to be supplying 500 – that's massive for them,' Curtis said. This optimism isn't necessarily shared everywhere. Some retail figures believe the business has a slim chance of survival. Meanwhile, the Communication Workers Union has expressed fears that Modella could even be 'looking to asset-strip it'. Such suggestions are rejected. 'It generates cash. It's got a solid level of profitability ... There's much more value for us here in growing something that makes X today, and Y tomorrow ... If we are on the up in 10 years' time, there's no reason why we couldn't float this business, because it could be worth a lot of money,' Curtis said. 'We could easily just say that they should quietly close this over the next couple of years but you don't need to ... and we don't want the high streets of this great nation of ours to be proliferated with charity shops, vape shops and coffee shops,' he added. 'We're in a lot of locations. If we're not there, then who else is going to come in?' Toal said. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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De minimis exemption slated to end in 2027
This story was originally published on Supply Chain Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Supply Chain Dive newsletter. The de minimis exemption will be eliminated in two years after President Donald Trump signed a sweeping policy bill into law on Friday. As part of the package introduced as the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' the U.S. will repeal the exemption allowing imports under $800 to enter the country duty and tax free, effective July 1, 2027. Exemptions will remain in place for eligible items bought during travel and bona fide gifts from foreign citizens to U.S. residents. The bill also establishes a civil penalty, starting 30 days after its enactment, for any person attempting to use de minimis entry in a way that "violates any other provision of" U.S. customs law. The amount is $5,000 for the first violation and up to $10,000 for subsequent violations. The move builds upon the Trump administration's efforts to restrict the de minimis exemption, which lawmakers and customs officials have scrutinized in recent years due to contraband entering the U.S. via low-cost packages. Earlier this year, the White House removed the exemption for imports from China and Hong Kong and announced its plans to end de minimis for other countries once systems are in place to collect duty revenue. The vast majority of de minimis volume entering the U.S. originated from China prior to the May 2 ban, making up 76% of shipments in Custom and Border Protection's 2024 fiscal year. The full repeal of the exemption in two years would expose low-cost shipments from Canada, Mexico and other countries to tariffs and other import taxes. E-commerce companies like Shein and Temu have historically benefited from the exemption, which allows them to ship products made internationally direct to U.S. consumers without facing added duties. Some experts say de minimis-reliant supply chains will shift to more traditional bulk shipping models or expanded U.S. fulfillment operations due to policy changes by the Trump administration. Recommended Reading De minimis' future: 4 questions shippers should consider Sign in to access your portfolio
