Starbucks Australia: why it shut 61 of its stores in 2008
In July 2008 Starbucks closed 61 of its 84 or 85 Australian stores in days, cutting about 685 jobs, and blamed conditions it called…
McDonald’s India: how a menu without beef became a business
McDonald's opened in India in 1996 with no beef or pork, built a vegetarian core, and by 2012 saw one potato burger bring in…
Google: a search giant that moved its Chinese search offshore rather than keep censoring
Google launched a censored Chinese search site in 2006, then after a 2009 cyber attack on it and dozens of other firms moved mainland…
Walmart and Flipkart: buying a lead in Indian e-commerce
In May 2018 Walmart agreed to pay about US$16 billion for a 77% stake in Flipkart, then losing money, and within six months both…
Reliance Jio: free data and a reshaped Indian telecoms market
Reliance Jio launched in September 2016 with free voice and data, reached 100 million customers in 170 days and, by January 2026, held about…
Uber: selling its China business to its main rival
In August 2016 Uber, losing more than $1 billion a year in China, sold its Chinese arm to Didi Chuxing for a minority stake…
Tesco: Fresh & Easy and a costly attempt to crack the US
Tesco opened Fresh & Easy in the US in 2007, took a 1.2 billion pound hit when it quit in April 2013, and its…
Target: a fast Canadian launch that ended in full retreat within two years
Target paid C$1.825 billion for Zellers leases in 2011, opened 133 Canadian stores from 2013 and shut them all by April 2015, with about…
Walmart: why the world’s largest retailer left Germany after eight years
Wal-Mart sold its 85 German stores to Metro in July 2006 at a pre-tax loss of about US$1 billion, after eight years of failing…
