MEXICO – On July 31, Sodimac opened its first store in Mexico, located in the municipality of Cuautitlán Izcalli, metropolitan area of Mexico City.

CHILE – Ahead of Amazons announced entry into the Chilean market, SACI Falabella informed on August 1^st of its acquisition of Linio, the main marketplace operators in the region, for a value of USD 138 million.

COLOMBIA – On July 10, in the city of Cali, the network of supply stores for the furniture and carpentry industry, Madecentro, opened its 130th store in Colombia.

COLOMBIA – On July 6, the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (Superindustria) of Colombia, a state agency in charge among others of protecting consumer rights, ordered the closure, for 30 days, of seven commercial establishments owned by the furniture group “Almacenes Brunati, Fiotti and Dini”.

GERMANY – While opening day is still about a year away, exhibition space at the world’s leading trade fair for machinery, plant and tools for the woodworking and timber processing industry is already more than 80 percent booked.

INDIA – IKEA, the world’s leading furniture retailer and manufacturer announced the openning of a store in Hyderabad sometime in the spring, if the monsoon season allows it.

U.S. – Wayfair, the largest specialized online furniture retailer in the U.S., redoubled its efforts in search and TV advertising last year in order to dominate the Google results page – but Wayfair’s biggest competitor is not brick-and-mortar chains, it’s Amazon.

SWEDEN / CHILE – On May 17th S.A.C.I. Falabella and Inter IKEA Systems B.V., owner of the IKEA Concept and international franchisor of IKEA, signed a memorandum of understanding for the granting of franchise rights in Chile, Colombia and Peru to S.A.C.I. Falabella.

U.S. – The International Home + Housewares Show and the International Housewares Association (IHA), the global sponsors and organizers of the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) program, announced the 2018 gia Global Honorees for Retail Excellence.

COLOMBIA – Madecentro, exclusive sponsor for the third consecutive edition of the M&M Fair, to be held at the Corferias pavilions in Bogotá from March 6 to 9, will present its portfolio of products for the furniture and carpentry industry in more than 475 m2 distributed in four stands.

CHILE – In 2018 Cencosud continues to execute its Financial Strengthening and Business Profitability Plan, which is expected to achieve Consolidated Revenue equivalent to USD 16,500 million1 in 2018, subject to exchange rate fluctuations against the Chilean peso.

U.S. – Ikea announced it has leased additional warehouse space to serve as a customer fulfillment center to complement its network of seven regional distribution centers currently supporting its 47 U.S. stores.