Vienna International Retail and Consumer Industry News

It’s all about Fashion during Vienna's Fashion Week

Until September 13th it’s all about fashion in Vienna’s Museums-Quartier. About 70 designers show their collections: at fashion shows and in the adjacent sales area in Quartier21, which invites visitors to go shopping. This year marks the seventh edition of the MQ Vienna Fashion Week. Last year, over 10,000 visitors came to the fashion event.

September 8, 2015

Niki Lauda Acquires Stakes in Benko's Real Estate Firms

The private foundation of former Formula 1 driver Niki Lauda will acquire 1% of Signa Prime and a 10% stake in Signa Retail.

July 17, 2015

Vienna Biennale 2015: Ideas for Change

Between June 11 and October 4, 2015 the Austrian capital will host its first ever interdisciplinary Biennale: this year’s edition aims to bring together art, design and architecture, and harness the power of creative ideas and artistic projects in its search for positive change.

June 1, 2015

The Eurovision Song Contest Village: "Let's Meet at Rathausplatz"

In the week leading up to the ESC finals in Vienna, Rathausplatz – the square in front of Vienna City Hall – will be turned into the Eurovision Village from 18 to 23 May 2015. It will be THE place to be for everyone interested in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2015. The programme starts on 18 May with the opening event featuring an international fashion show, and will continue with themed days, live performances by ESC contestants, a colourful family programme. On 23 May, the ESC finals will be broadcast live from Stadthalle and shown on Rathausplatz. For one week, the framework event under the motto "Hello Vienna. Welcome Europe!" will highlight the very best of the Eurovision nations, including culinary delights from different countries.

May 15, 2015

Billa Invests EUR 100 Million in Bulgaria in Next Years

Supermarket Chain Billa plans to invest some 100 million euros in Bulgaria and to open around 40 new stores.

April 10, 2015

Germanwings Flight 9525: Captain Tried to Break into Cockpit with Axe, Co-Pilot Hid Illness

The latest reports prove that German Wings captain Patrick Sondenheimer tried to break into locked cockpit door 'with an axe' as plane was descending. German police have been searching the home of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz and his parents. They found a ripped-up sick note showing that he tried to hide his illness from employer German Wings.

March 27, 2015

Vienna to Have Two Million Inhabitants in 2029

Vienna is already the city with the second largest population in the German-speaking countries. But Vienna is growing faster than ever. This development entails a tremendous challenge for Vienna. Based on the figures now available, investments totalling seven billion euros will have to be made by the year 2020 in the areas of child care, public transport, other infrastructure facilities and health services alone.

February 20, 2015

Swarovski Crystal Worlds to Reopen End of April

Swarovski Kristallwelten will reopen on April 30, 2015. A total volume of 34 million Euros has been invested. The space will be more than doubled to 7.5 hectares. In addition to the all-encompassing renovations in the garden all around the iconic Giant, five Chambers of Wonder are being redesigned entirely from scratch.

February 20, 2015

Spar to Relaunch "Huma” Shopping Park in Vienna-Simmering

The starting signal for building work to turn the HUMA Shopping Center into probably the most modern shopping center in the capital has already been given in December 2014. A shopping center with more than 90 shops, restaurants, catering outlets and services, 2000 free parking spaces and 800 jobs is being built at a traditional location in Vienna-Simmering on a gross leasable area of 50,000 square meters.

February 17, 2015

Austria has EU-Wide Most Franc Loans

In absolute terms, Austria has the most franc foreign currency loans in the European Union.

January 19, 2015

Huber Holding Acquires French Premium Men Lingerie Maker

Huber Group, the Götzis/Vorarlberg based lingerie maker has acquired the French premium brand Hom for men from Triumph Group to target the upmarket male underwear category.

January 19, 2015

State Holding ÖIAG to be Renamed ÖBIB

Austrian state holding ÖIAG is going to be turned into a limited liability company (GesmbH) called "ÖBIB" Österreichische Bundes- und Industriebeteiligungsholding, which will be permitted to make new acquisitions and which will report directly to the Finance Ministry.

January 13, 2015

Wolford Appoints Former Model Grit Seymour as Creative Director

Wolford AG has appointed designer Grit Seymour as its new Creative Director. This position, which was created as part of the company's strategic refocusing, is intended to drive the brand development. The new Creative Director's main responsibilities will include the design of future collections as well as advisory function for Wolford's overall brand identity. The first signs of her contribution will be visible in the 2016 spring/summer collection, which will be presented to the professional public in summer 2015.

November 10, 2014

Vienna Among Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2015

One of the world’s best known publishers of independent travel and language guides, Lonely Planet, has ranked Vienna as one of the top 10 cities “not to be missed” by travellers in 2015. According to Lonely Planet, there is no better time to visit Austria than next year during the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, which takes place in Vienna. The list also includes destinations like Washington, Milan, Chennai or Toronto.

October 24, 2014

New Post Logistics Center Opens in Upper Austria

Listed postal service provider Post AG has officially inaugurated the new logistics centre in Allhaming, Upper Austria. Built for EUR 50 million (USD 64 million) and used since the beginning of August instead of the centre located at the Linz main train station, it has been designed for daily up to 1.6 million letters and 100,000 packages. Some 650 employees work in the new post office near the motorway Westautobahn. Various political officials participated in the inauguration.

October 17, 2014

Netflix: "We are Proud to Bring the Future of Television to Austria"

Netflix, the American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media followed up its launches in France and Germany by adding Austria to the list of countries in which its streaming services is available. The comapny intends to capture a third of the market share. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California. It started its subscription-based digital distribution service in 1999. By 2009, Netflix was offering a collection of 100,000 titles on DVD and had surpassed 10 million subscribers. By July 2014 Netflix has subscribers in over 40 countries.

September 17, 2014

Josef Taus to Delist MTH from the Vienna Stock Exchange

Josef Taus is delisting his investment company Management Trust Holding (MTH). The main reason for the delisting of this long-term stock market participant (since 1990) is the very low percentage of widespread shareholdings: only 1.25 percent of the shares is held in free float. The company will present a respective offer to the few minority shareholders. Another reason is the restructure of Taus’ empire, which will allow the industrialist to reduce his dependence on minority shareholders.

September 3, 2014

New Owner E-Tec Brings DiTech Back Into Business

The brand DiTech has been purchased after the bankruptcy by the Upper Austrian Computer Dealer e-tec. Now the newly established DiTech Electronic GmbH starts operations. The first stores open already at the beginning of September.

August 29, 2014

Signa Buys Karstadt for €1

Austria's Signa Holding takes over struggling German department store chain Karstadt. Signa acquires a 100 per cent stake in Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH from Berggruen Holdings. Berggruen Holdings is going to withdraw from Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH, Karstadt Premium and Karstadt Sports as well as from from each property. The deal ends weeks of speculation over the company's future after the CEO left in July. Rene Benko will pay just €1 for the department store chain. Karstadt operates more than 80 stores across Germany and employs more than 17.000 people.

August 15, 2014

Russia Orders Agricultural Import Bans in Sanction Retaliation

Vladimir Putin signed a decree limiting or banning imports of agricultural products from countries which have imposed sanctions on Russia, the Kremlin's press service announced. It is estimated that following CEE/SEE countries will be hit by the retaliatory sanctions: Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Brussels, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

August 6, 2014

Analysis: Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria

The contest will take place in Vienna, Austria, following Conchita Wurst's victory in the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix". On 6 August 2014, it was announced that Vienna had been chosen as the host city for the 2015 contest. It will be hosted in Wiener Stadthalle.

August 6, 2014

Eurovision Song Contest 2015: The Winner is Vienna

"As an internationally-minded city, Vienna is the best venue for this event, and will prove its cosmopolitan nature to the international public. Most importantly, we want the Song Contest on 23 May 2015 to be a cause for celebration for everyone in Vienna - locals and guests alike." says Mayor Michael Häupl.

August 6, 2014

Casinos Austria to Challenge Concessions for Competitors

Casinos Austria, has challenged three new casino licenses. Complaints were submitted to the ministry of finance on Thursday afternoon - "Wiener Zeitung” reported. With this move Casinos Austria wants to hamper the plans of its rivals - Novomatic (concessions for Bruck a.d. Leitha and Prater) and Schweizer Stadtcasinos Baden (Schwarzenberg Palace in Vienna).

July 25, 2014

Tengelmann to Launch Online Gardening DIY Chain in Austria

The German online gardening DIY chain GartenXXL, a subsidiary of the Tengelmann group, is setting up in Austria. The range of offered products includes over 20,000 products from brands such as Gardena, Fiskars, Bosch or Kettler. The products shall be offered via gartenxxl.at. After successful launching in Austria, GartenXXL intends to expand to other countries in CEE/CESEE.

July 22, 2014

Stamp Producer Trodat to Slash 40 Jobs

Stamp producer Trodat announced plans to slash 40 jobs in order to reduce operation costs, but the firm has not changed its guidance for this and subsequent years, as it targets doubling the revenue to EUR 300 million by 2020.

July 1, 2014

Austrian Export Award 2014 for Above-Average Export Commitment

As part of a festive gala evening in Vienna's Museumsquartier, the Austrian Export Prize 2014 has been awarded by the Federal Minister for Science, Research and Economics, Reinhold Mitterlehner, and the President of the Economic Chamber Austria (WKO) Christoph Leitl.

June 26, 2014

Hilton Vienna Plaza Finishes First Stage of €20 Million Re-design

Hilton Vienna Plaza is currently undergoing extensive renovation as part of a €20 million modernisation that will see the entire hotel transformed. The first stage of the re-design is set for tomorrow, June 6, 2014, followed by the full re-opening in September 2014.

June 5, 2014

Century Casinos Opens Casino on Nova Star Cruise Ferry

Century Casinos announced the successful opening of the casino onboard Nova Star Cruises luxury cruise ferry Nova Star on it's maiden voyage from Portland, Main, to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia yesterday.

May 16, 2014

Austria: Creditors of DiTech Faced With Total Losses

The Austrian computer equipment retailer has filed for insolvency proceedings at the end of March.

May 12, 2014 · Updated: May 13, 2014; 10:55

Amazon Gets New Warehouse in the Czech Republic

US-based online retailer Amazon will get a warehouse in the EIA informationsystem in the Černovická terasa industrial zone in Brno.

May 12, 2014

German Retailer Metro Faces Massive Losses in CEE

Sales in CEE declined 14.8 percent last year for German retail and wholesale enterprise Metro Group.

May 9, 2014

Austria DIY Chain BauMax Avoided Insolvency

Austrian leading DIY chain bauMax announced cost saving programs as part of its restructuring measures in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia. BauMax intends to focus on profitable business locations only.

May 9, 2014

Romania: BRD Group Societe General with High Expectations

The Romanian lender intends to increase its lending by four percent in 2014.

April 23, 2014

Industrial Location Austria Losing Attractiveness

Among other things, labor costs and energy prices are too high, according to the Austrian Federation of Industries.

April 16, 2014

DiTech: Insolvency Postponed

Heavily affected computer equipement trader DiTech has to postpone filing for insolvency proceedings, which was planned today at the Commercial Court in Vienna.

March 14, 2014

Austria: DiTech to be Taken Over by Investor

Insolvent computer equipment trader DiTech is supposed to be taken over by a German investor with Polish roots.

March 13, 2014

Wifo: Economic Recovery Lacks in Momentum

Economic growth in the Eurozone is still without a major drive. In Austria too, economic recovery is still restrained.

March 11, 2014

Austria: Computer Trader DiTech Declares Insolvency

Viennese hardware computer trader DiTech has slipped into insolvency.

March 10, 2014

Bulgaria: FDI Keeps Increasing

FDI (foreign direct investments) increased by € 1,229.4m in Bulgaria in 2013 while equity capital came at € 953.4m last year.

February 18, 2014

Austria: Slight Economic Growth

The Austrian Institute for Economic Research (Wifo) has forecast an increase of the macroeconomic production by 0.2 percent in real terms compared to the previous quarter.

November 14, 2013

Slovenia: Significant Decline in Business Confidence

Sentiment indicator lower than in the previous month In October 2013 (-13 percentage points) the sentiment indicator was 1 percentage point lower than in September 2013 (-12 percentage points).

October 28, 2013

Amazon to Open Distribution Centers in the Czech Republic

The world’s largest online retailer Amazon plans to create 10,000 jobs in the Czech Republic within the next three years.

October 22, 2013

Poland: Amazon to Establish Three Logistic Centers

Leading online retailer Amazon will open three major logistic centers in Poland. According to the company’s own proclamation, this step does not relate to the latest striking problems in Germany.

October 8, 2013

Poland Leads Ranking of Top Enterprises in CEE

Credit insurance company Coface has for the fifth time published a study about the Top 500 enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe.

September 24, 2013

Head of Slovenia’s Chief Bank Arrested

Janko Medja, manager of Slovenia’s most important bank NLB, was arrested because of suspicion of corruption.

September 20, 2013

Romania: Austrian Investors Demand Transparency

In an interview with Business Review Romania, Rudolf Lukavsky, commercial counselor for Romania and Moldova at the Austrian Embassy described the downsides and advantages of the economic environment in the country.

September 17, 2013

Spar: Growth Plans In Czech Republic

Retailer Spar has lost a total of € 130m in the past eight years in the Czech Republic. Despite of that, the trade chain has plans of expansion. Particularly the network of frachise stores is supposed to grow.

August 30, 2013

Trend: Service Industry Drifts to CESEE

Lower costs in the service sector in CESEE countries, particularly Romania, are compensated by higher expenditures in securing quality standards.

July 30, 2013

Spar Becoming More Profitable

Spar made profits before taxes in the amount of € 164m last year with food, sport articles and shopping center floor space.

June 27, 2013

Croatia: Agrokor Becomes Biggest Retailer in SEE

After the take-over of Slovenian chain of retail stores Mercator, Croatian corporation Agrokor employs 60,000 persons in the region of former Yugoslavia.

June 18, 2013