Hungaryʼs Competition Office (GVH) fined Auchan Magyarország HUF 56 mln on charges of unfair price comparison practices, bbj.hu reports. According to the competition office, Auchan claimed its prices were lower than its competitors, but it made the claim based on comparisons of dissimilar products, product volumes and mark-downs, GVH said.
Europe turns Schwarz, Carrefour no longer the biggest
German retailer Schwarz has overtaken Carrefour as the largest supermarket company in Europe, lebensmittelzeitung.net reports. Schwarz is Lidl's parent company, and has a turnover of nearly 80bn euros. In addition to a strong position on the home market, the chain strongly focuses on growth abroad.
Casino opens 2nd store in Serbia
French supermarket group Casino has opened its second store in Belgrade, Serbia, under the discount insignia Leader Price, esmmagazine.com reports. The store openings are the result of a partnership agreement signed in 2013 by Serbian company Sodibal with Casino Group to distribute its products for the Balkan market as well as to open seven stores in Serbia, including two in Belgrade.
Italy retail sales fall unexpectedly - food sales go up
Retail sales fell 0.2% year-over-year in March, defying economists' expectations for a 0.4% climb, lse.co.uk reports. However, sales of food products grew by 0.7%.
UK: M&S poised to break through 1,000-shop milestone
Marks & Spencer is poised to break through the 1,000-shop milestone after accelerating the programme to open its Simply Food grocery stores, thisismoney.co.uk reports. The surge will put the retailer among the few store groups to pass the landmark. Marks & Spencer believes it can increase its share of the food market in places where it is under-represented.
Canadian retail sales rise led by food
Canadian retail sales rose 0.7% in March, climbing for the second month in a row as consumers spent more on cars, food and alcohol, data from Statistics Canada showed on Friday, theglobeandmail.com reports. Increased spending was seen at all stores within the food and beverage category, including stronger sales at grocery stores, and beer, wine and liquor stores.
Convenience store growth continues
Store numbers are continuing to grow in the convenience channel, according to new research by IGD Retail Analysis and William Reed Business Media. The research showed that the fastest growing segment in the last year was multiple retailers, with 401 new stores. Tesco-owned One Stop saw the biggest rise, adding 109 stores, alkingretail.com writes.
Zimbabwe: OK records revenues decline
One of the country’s biggest retailers OK Zimbabwe Limited has recorded a decline of 4,3% in revenue to $462,7mn for the year ended March 31 2015 due to persisting deflationary pressures in the country, newsday.co.zw reports.
Satisfying first trimester 2015 for French Casino Group
The Casino Group have announced their €11.9bn turnover for the first trimester of 2015, i.e. a +5.3% increase compared to the first trimester in 2014. This good performance is thanks to
- The strong increase in food distribution in Asia and Latin America.
- Rapid development of cyber-commerce activities.
- Continued recovery of organic sales in France.
Coop Hungary: 2014 Revenue +1.8%
Hungarian retailer, Coop Hungary has reported its 2014 sales, revealing that revenue increased by 1.8% to HUF 560 bn (€1.8bn), retailanalysis.igd.com reports.
US: Wal-Mart wants food shoppers to go online
Walmart’s International CEO David Cheesewright told investors last week that the retailer is working to leverage its U.K. success elsewhere through the creation of an "International Acceleration Team." Based in the U.K., the team is working to "speed up the adoption of grocery home shopping processes and technologies. We're now working towards a common technology platform to better position us for the expansion of grocery home shopping," Cheesewright said. Expansion in the U.S. appears to be a priority.
UK: New bonus claw-back measures introduced at Tesco
Tesco has introduced new provisions to claw back bonuses from senior staff members, following controversy over awards given to previous management, cipd.co.uk reports.
US: Sprouts says new-store productivity rises 15%
New-store productivity at Sprouts Farmers Market has risen by about 15% — to an average of $320,000 per week — as the company has broadened its assortment and shifted its focus from being a specialty store to an everyday healthy grocery store, the company’s CFO told investors Thursday, supermarketnews.com reports.
US: Sales slow in Q1 for Fresh Market
The Greensboro, N.C.-based retailer said comps decreased by 0.1% affected in part by store closures due to winter storms in the period as well as lapping a period of heavy promotional spending in the same period a year ago, supermarketnews.com reports. Total sales improved by 7.2% to $462mn, while net earnings of $15.2mn were down by 8.5% from the same period a year ago.
US: D'Agostino offers delivery service through Amazon's Prime
Amazon.com said Thursday it has added D’Agostino to its Prime Now service, with Westside Market set to offer the delivery service soon, supermarketnews.com reports. The Seattle-based company said it is launching local store delivery through Prime Now in select neighborhoods in Manhattan and will expand across the borough in coming weeks.
UK: Asda is restructuring its management teams
Asda, in the wake of what it has described as “unprecedented conditions” in the British supermarket price war, is to effect a new shake-up of its senior management, which will see the departure of Colin Hill, the retailer's vice-president for grocery trading and food merchandising. A spokesperson said on behalf of Asda that the restructuring of its managerial framework is designed to “streamline accountabilities” and facilitate “swifter decision making,” retail-week.com reports.
Spar spreads stores by blending local, global expertise
"The potential in China is still enormous and in Russia it is too because we've only just started opening hypermarkets," managing director Gordon Campbell told Reuters in an interview at the group's Amsterdam headquarters. "We see enormous potential in India. We're only just starting in Indonesia." Local knowledge has also proven key in expanding in sub-Saharan Africa given huge challenges like poor roads and intermittent electricity supply, he said. "The local partner knows his or her way round the obstacles of bureaucracy that would be a nightmare to navigate on your own," he said, Reuters reports.