Breakfast Briefing: Retail news on Sainsbury's, Walmart, Amazon and more

Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe sentenced to two years imprisonment in Egypt

Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe has been sentenced to two years in an Egyptian jail, The Telegraph reported. A court in Giza has convicted Coupe for allegedly trying to seize cheques linked to an Egyptian business the grocer invested in 16 years ago. The court held him responsible as the retailer’s chief executive and its most senior employee.

Coupe was automatically convicted as he failed to attend court hearings, and could be arrested if he travels to Egypt. The supermarket chain claimed it was unaware of the hearings and denied all the allegations against him.

“We strongly refute the legal case in Egypt brought against our chief executive Mike Coupe. This relates to a historic commercial dispute in which Mr Coupe had no involvement,” a Sainsbury’s spokesman said.

Walmart eyes 115 store openings in China

Walmart is looking to open 115 new outlets in China by 2017, BBC News reported. This move would boost the store numbers in the world’s second largest economy by almost a third. The new shops would open in major cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan from this year and create 30,000 more jobs, the company said. It also plans to spend $60m (£39m) to overhaul more than 50 stores this year.

Irish retail sales up 9.2% in March

Retail sales volume in Ireland increased 9.2% in March over the same month a year ago. According to the Central Statistics Office, excluding car sales, volumes rose 4.7% on the year.

Amazon Business B2B marketplace re-launched

Amazon has relaunched its business-to-business marketplace as Amazon Business, with thousands more products than its predecessor Amazon Supply. Prentis Wilson, vice-president of Amazon Business, said it was a ‘new and expanded marketplace’ that offered a similar experience at work to how people now shop at home. The launch forms a part of a wider trend towards business customers wanting easier-to-use technology.