Target shifts focus to fresh | Aldi eyeing South-Europe | Carrefour to Russia
Aldi to display fresh fruit outside store
Aldi is looking more fancy after launching posh new displays last month designed to lure higher income shoppers into their stores, ews.com.au reports. The launch of four attractive new “trial” stores in locations around Australia has sparked speculation the discount retailer will make a play for the “middle market” who traditionally shop at Coles and Woolworths. At the front of the new shops, and at the forefront of the supermarket wars, will be fresh fruit and vegetables, which Aldi will use to attract the attention of passing shoppers. In a statement provided to news.com.au Aldi Australia noted that a Nielsen Homescan report showed just 30% of its shoppers in 2014 came from low-income households. Meanwhile, its proportion of “high income” shoppers, had increased by 6.7% since 2011, the highest growth rate of any supermarket retailer. Just over a third, 34.3%, sat somewhere in the middle. “This means the majority of shoppers in 2014 were from high-income households,” the spokesman said.
Target corporation shifts focus to fresh, healthier food
Processed, canned food will no longer be Target’s first priority, businessfinancenews.com reports. Target Corporation recently announced that it is shifting its focus on promoting healthier foods, which means that the products offered by these suppliers are no longer their first priority. The announcement came as customers’ interest recently saw a dramatic change from using processed food to fresh and natural products. Target is not oblivious to this fact; hence, it informed several of its prominent suppliers that it plans to cut down the money and work it puts in promoting their products.
Carrefour may return to Russian market
The hypermarket franchise Carrefour, owned by Majid Al Futtaim of the UAE, is looking to gain a “foothold in Russia” after acquiring a license to develop in 38 countries, including countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States, fruitnews.info reports. Frank Witek, CEO of Dubai's Majid Al Futtaim Retail LLC (MARF), already held a meeting with, the Prime Minister of Tatarstan Ildar Khalikov. According to the press service of the regional government, negotiations were focused on the projects, the possible construction and lease of commercial areas for networks in Kazan. At the same time, the head office of Carrefour has declined to comment on the “rumors” of the company's plans.
German grocery discounter Aldi eyes move into Italy
German low-cost supermarket chain Aldi is continuing its European expansion by opening stores in Italy, the company said Monday, europeonline-magazine.eu reports. Aldi Sued said its Austrian subsidiary, Hofer, would head up the move into Italy. It had said in March that it was investigating the move. The Aldi chains and their main competitor, Lidl, are among the best-known symbols of German thrift.
US: Supermarket sales outpaced all retail over 5-year period
Supermarket sales outpaced overall retail sales between 2007 and 2012, though sales at supercenters and warehouse clubs grew even faster, according to preliminary findings of the U.S. Government’s “2012 Census of Retail Trade.”, supermarketnews.com reports. Sales of supermarkets and other grocery stores, excluding convenience stores, grew by 15.2% during the five-year period — nearly twice as much as all retail trade, which grew by 7.8%, the study said.
Germany: Lidl expands its logistics centre
Lidl Group is expanding its logistics centre in Waldenburg, swp.de reports. The logistics centre will nearly double in size after the expansion. In the business park Hohenlohe, in the area of Waldenburg, one of 39 regional companies of the third-largest grocer in Germany - including logistics centre - is situated. From there the 82 stores in the northeast of Baden-Württemberg are supplied with goods and produce.
US: Winn-Dixie, Bi-Lo parent takes new corporate name
Bi-Lo Holdings, parent of the Winn-Dixie, Bi-Lo and Harveys chains, has renamed itself Southeastern Grocers, effective Monday, supermarketnews.com reports. The company also released a new logo as part of the switch. “This change symbolizes that regardless of whether we work for BI-LO, Harveys or Winn-Dixie, we are all part of a unified family with a common aim to do the best we can for all of our customers across the Southeast,” the company said in a statement.
AU: Woolworths faces multimillion-dollar hit
Woolworths' plan to cut the price of private label grocery brands to better compete with Aldi and Coles may cost the retailer as much as $1bn, reducing earnings from food and liquor by almost a third, according to brokers, afr.com reports. Woolworths is reviewing its private label grocery strategy after admitting a week ago that consumers perceived the quality of Aldi's private label brands to be on par or better than Woolworths' Select brand and superior to its entry-level Homebrand range.
AU: Woolworths reminds suppliers of 'moral obligation' to farm labourers
The supermarket giant Woolworths says it has written to all of its fresh food suppliers to remind them they have obligations to treat farm workers legally, but its managers say it is not Woolworths' job to enforce the law, abc.net.au reports.
Spain: Aldi goes to Mallorca
Aldi has given an insight into their Mallorca strategy: "We don’t want to be a German supermarket in Mallorca, but a Majorcan supermarket for the Majorcans", mallorcazeitung.es reports. Aldi Nord is planning to open the stores on May 20 the famous holiday island. The major competitor Lidl already has a firm position on the island with 14 markets. The discount giant starts with 43 local suppliers from the island. However in the beginning fresh produce, such as fruits and vegetables will come in from the mainland. Only a small part of the product range comes from Germany.
US: Meijer announces opening dates first Wisconsin supercenters
A little more than two years after announcing it was considering expansion into Wisconsin, Meijer has confirmed the opening date for its first two supercenters, fox6now.com reports. The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer will open its Grafton and Kenosha stores on Tuesday, June 23rd.
AU: Supermarkets on notice over grocery code of conduct
Coles and Woolworths may have to answer to a grocery industry ombudsman in three years if they fail to embrace the principles of a voluntary code of conduct expected to be approved by Parliament next month, smh.com.au reports. The major grocery chains have come under renewed pressure to sign the grocery industry code of conduct after a Senate committee recommended last week that the regulation stand without further amendment, despite widespread calls from suppliers for a mandatory rather than a voluntary code and for the appointment of an ombudsman. In a dissenting report a senators said: "Given the disparity between suppliers on the one hand and the major supermarkets on the other – in terms of market power, financial resources as well as experience and expertise in dealing with disputes – the ability of the code to operate effectively hinges on the presence of effective, accessible and timely dispute resolution mechanisms,"
UK: Nisa boss aims to return to growth
New Nisa boss Nick Read says his first priority is to return the business to growth and profitability following the loss of its Costcutter account last summer, Independent Retail News reports. The Costcutter business was worth some £500m, about one-third of Nisa’s turnover, talkingretail.com writes. Read told Independent Retail News that, despite having recouped £280m of the lost sales through its deal to supply the Martin McColl convenience chain and £100m of other new business, sales remained down on what they were this time last year. But he denied suggestions they were some 20% down overall. “It’s not as much as that,” he said, “but they are still down.”
US: 7-Eleven to gobble up Tedeschi convenience store chain
Dallas-based convenience store chain 7-Eleven Inc. said Monday that it agreed to acquire Rockland, Mass.-based Tedeschi Food Shops Inc.'s 182 convenience stores around the Boston area and New Hampshire, bizjournals.com reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed and it's not immediately clear if Tedeschi will be rebranded as 7-Eleven or if some stores will be shuttered as a result of the acquisition.
Swiss retail food sales fall
Swiss retail sales declined for a third straight month in March, although at a slower pace from the previous month, ttnews.com reports. Retail sales dropped an adjusted 2.8% year-on-year in March. Sales of food, beverages and tobacco dropped 2.6% and non-food sales decreased 2.3%.
Portuguese retail sales down last year
Retail sector sales in Portugal fell one% last year compared to 2013, to just under €19bn, according to APED, esmmagazine.com reports. The most affected segment was food retail, which saw sales decrease by 1.2% to almost €10bn. According to APED, in the food sector alone, 36.7% of the products sold were on promotion, compared with 27.4% a year earlier. Hypermarkets (+0.7%) and supermarkets (+0.9%) were the only distribution channels to grow, with both the discounters and others seeing a drop in market share.
X5 gains to outpace Magnit as Russia retailers rebound
Both Russian food retailers, which are traded in London, sank about 30% in 2014 during a broad market sell-off as plunging oil prices and sanctions linked to the Ukraine conflict squelched the economy, esmmagazine.com reports. X5 has jumped 73% this year as sales rose each month, while Magnit gained 30% amid slowing revenue growth. X5 sells for 15 times projected earnings, compared with a multiple of 22 for Magnit.
India: Askme.com acquires online grocery
Consumer Internet firm, Askme.com has acquired online grocery marketplace, BestAtLowest.com to expand its marketplace services, inc42.com reports. Though the company did not disclose the deal size but it is estimated to be around $10m.
Sonae to open over 20 Bom Dia stores in Portugal
Portuguese retailer Sonae plans to open around two dozen new Continente Bom Dia supermarkets in the domestic Portuguese market during 2015, esmmagazine.com reports. Food distribution, which accounted for 69.1% of consolidated sales in the first quarter of 2015, will remain in Sonae's expansion strategy in Portugal.
US: Raley's majority ownership passes to the 3rd generation
Majority ownership of Raley’s Supermarkets has been transferred from his parents to Michael Teel, president and CEO — the third generation of the Raley family to own the company, supermarketnews.com reports.
US: Two Safeway stores to close
US: Safeway is closing two Arizona stores, one in Peoria and the other in Claypool, in mid-June, azcentral.com reports. The grocer is not anticipating any layoffs because of the closures, which were implemented to strengthen operational efficiencies, Albertsons-Safeway said.
Zambian government will ban chain stores from importing chips
Zambian Government will ban chain stores from importing certain processed foodstuffs such as potatoes if they fail to comply with the directive by President Lungu to stock locally produced goods, lusakatimes.com reports.