Is the FX crunch about to claim its first retail casualty? Retail conglomerate Landmark Group, which runs value brands Centrepoint and Max Fashion, had to deny reports yesterday that it plans to exit Egypt and shut down its stores here. The company had temporarily shuttered some of its stores yesterday and plans to reopen them today, a source from the company tells Al Mal. The company did not make clear why it closed stores on Wednesday. Anecdotally, we’ve been noticing signs of stress in the retail supply chain, including the disappearance of common brands from shelves (largely imports, but also domestically manufactured or packaged) and the wholesale disappearance of some categories of goods. Worst of all, Starbucks has had repeated shortages of bagged beans for sale: Our neighborhood shop now hides them in the back room and sells them only when asked.