Italy closes retailers
The Italian government ordered the closure of all nonessential stores in the wake of the coronavirus, until March 25. Bloomberg

Eurocommercial allowing some rent deferrals
Eurocommercial says it will grant some rent payment deferrals for the second quarter, following the Italian government’s decree that retail locations be closed for two weeks. Eurocommercial is reviewing these deferrals on a case-by-case basis. Across

Intu warns of its demise
UK shopping centre owner Intu says it doubts its survival unless investors come to the rescue. The company is nearly £5 billion in debt and has been selling off assets. BBC

WHSmith is forecasting loss due to coronavirus
WHSmith says coronavirus will probably hurt its full-year underlying profit by between £30 million and £40 million. Reuters

UK retail workers struggle with virus
Staying home from work is not an economic viability for high-street employees. The Guardian

East of England Co-op suspends supplier supper
Concerns over the coronavirus caused East of England Co-op to postpone its annual gathering of Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk food-and-drink producers. Eastern Daily Press

Moss Bros. to change hands
Brigadier Acquisition Co. has agreed to purchase Moss Bros. for £22.6 million. The deal will take the company private. Retail Gazette

Neinver appoints Amsterdam execs
Neinver has named Darrell Dunda retail manager and Tessa Morsink marketing manager at Amsterdam The Style Outlets. VRN

Tendam’s stores to use renewable energy
Spanish fashion retailer Tendam says it will begin using all renewable energy at its 800 stores by the end of this year. FashionUnited

Amazon launches Dutch platform
Amazon.com went live this week with what it says are thousands of Dutch retailers offering goods in a Dutch-language Amazon store. This is Amazon’s sixth European platform. DutchNews