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Vienna International Retail and Consumer Industry News
Read the latest headlines about developments in the international retail and consumer industry in Vienna and Austria
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
Slovenia: Mercator to be Finally Sold
It is the ninth sale attempt for Slovenian trade chain Mercator today, but it could be finally sealed. Croatian corporation Agrokor is the interested party. A dozen owners will decide about the retail chain’s fate.
June 14, 2013
Significant Trade Surplus in 2012 Reflects Austria's Competitive Strength
Despite the crisis, Austria managed to achieve a significant trade surplus in services in 2012. At the same time it was possible to eliminate Austria's foreign debt in full.
June 4, 2013
Romania: No Investors for Post Company
Debts and a collective agreement which makes restructuring impossible until 2018 are among the main reasons the company is not attractive to potential investors.
May 29, 2013
bwin.party to Concentrate On Ten Markets Only.
After the weak figures in the first quarter, bwin.party CEO Norbert Teufelberger wants to get the online gambling provider back on track. However, the company also cast an eye to enter the US market.
May 23, 2013
MotoGP™ and bwin Continue Partnership Until 2015
Commercial rights holder of the MotoGP™ World Championship, Dorna Sports, and bwin, Europe’s largest sports book, announce a two-year extension of their longstanding partnership which began in 2004.
May 22, 2013
Spar: Expanding in Hungary
Spar Austria Group intends to expand the meat plant near Budapest and the entire branch network in Hungary.
April 18, 2013
Austria: Number of Small-Business Owners Increased Marginally
In 2012, there were around 251,000 one-person-businesses in Austria which is 11,000 more than in 2011.
April 16, 2013
Czech Republic: Finance Ministry Worsens Economic Outlook
In an updated macroeconomic forecast for the economic development, the Czech Finance Ministry deteriorated the country’s outlook.
April 16, 2013
