, Columnists
Alibaba Raids the Clearance Bin
Sun Art won't do for the Chinese e-commerce giant what Whole Foods promises for Amazon.
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We've all been there. Tempted by a bright red "25% off" sign, we throw something from the clearance bin into our shopping cart we otherwise wouldn't have bought. Low risk if it doesn't work out, high reward if it does.
That's the right lens to consider Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s HK$22.4 billion ($2.9 billion) purchase of a 36 percent stake in Sun Art Retail Group Ltd., the 446-store bricks-and-mortar chain that's faced slowing sales as shoppers go online to buy high-margin goods like televisions and hair dryers.