Asda extends 'ugly' fruit and veg range | Morrisons Q3 sales fall
Target seeks outside help for fresh food | Whole Foods 4Q profit falls
Kantar Retail today releases the results of the 2015 PoweRanking® survey, which finds that longtime industry leaders Procter & Gamble and Walmart maintain their #1 leadership positions for over a decade. Kroger and PepsiCo each obtained second-place rankings overall in their respective industries for the first time in the 19-year history of the PoweRanking. Target came in at an overall #3 rank, but maintained its #1 position in "Best Store Branding" and "Most Innovative Merchandising Approach." (marketwatch.com)
US: Costco established-store sales fall 1%
Costco Wholesale Corp. said sales at established stores fell 1% in October, wider than the estimate of a 0.6% decline from analysts surveyed by the research firm RetailMetrics. It said total sales for the four weeks ended Nov. 1 rose 1% to $8.78bn from $8.73bn. (marketwatch.com)
Exclusive: Target explores outside help for fresh food business
Target Corp is seriously considering partnerships with outside companies to help shore up a creaky fresh food supply chain that has led to chronic shortages on store shelves. "There is an opportunity to use some partners who may be able to do things a little bit better," COO John Mulligan said in a recent interview. Target's supply chain evolved over time as it expanded its offerings, including more fresh food, he said, leading to a patchwork system. "I said to my team this looks like Frankenstein. We have made this thing out of a bunch of parts." The potential shift to relying on outside partners comes as Target pushes to revamp its food business with newer offerings and aims to get a bigger slice of online grocery sales, which will put new pressures on its food supply chain. (Reuters)
UK: Morrisons reports another fall in sales
Supermarket chain Morrisons has reported another fall in sales, partly due to cutting back on promotional vouchers. In the 13 weeks to 1 November, like-for-like sales excluding fuel fell by 2.6%. The supermarket said it had reduced the number of vouchers, which had affected third-quarter sales by 2.4%. However, CEO David Potts said the retailer was "making good progress in many areas". He said the company's priorities remained "to stabilise trading, reduce costs and further improve the capability of the leadership team". Morrisons' like-for-like sales from its online operation rose 1% in Q3. (BBC)
Morrisons cheapest in the UK
According to the mySupermarket website, the October average price on the 35 most commonly bought supermarket items shows Morrisons was the cheapest, ahead of both Asda and Sainsburys and a substantial 9.6% cheaper than Tesco. (Reuters)
UK: Expense of groceries rises in October
Britons paid marginally more for groceries in October. But the costs at the store counter remain far lower than at the start of the year, new research states. Analysis of 35 well known stores discovered the aggregate bill expanded from £85.94 in September to £86.16 a month ago, as indicated by comparison site Mysupermarket. (internationalsupermarketnews.com)
CP Fresh Mart to have 1,000 Thai outlets within three years
The convenience retailer is to invest THB 1.2bn to significantly refresh and expand its store network in the coming years. As part of the investment the retailer aims to refresh its existing 600 stores and launch 400 new stores. CP Fresh Mart to have 1,000 Thai outlets within three years. (igd.com)
France: Carrefour opens airport store
Carrefour has opened its first City convenience store in a French airport. The assortment includes private label range Reflets de France, as well as branded items, fresh produce, hot and cold snacks and ready-to-cook meals; bread is sliced on-site. (igd.com)
France: Carrefour's new Shopping Drive concept
A new type of Drive has launched at Labège 2, a shopping centre located to the south of Toulouse. Shopping Drive allows customers to order online from multiple retailers and collect from Carrefour's Drive site located at the shopping centre. (igd.com)
US: Peapod and the Hershey Company launch "Fruit & Indulgence" box
Today, Peapod and The Hershey Company joined forces to launch the Fruit & Indulgence Box, a package filled with fresh fruit and Hershey’s chocolate to satisfy employees’ collective sweet tooth. The Fruit & Indulgence Box, the first collaboration between Peapod and The Hershey Company, is now available for office delivery, home delivery or Pick-up in Chicagoland, Milwaukee and Indianapolis areas served by Peapod. (igd.com)
US: Best Yet to buy 6 more A&P stores
A&P has asked the judge in its bankruptcy case to approve the sale of six additional stores to Best Yet Market. Best Yet, based in Bethpage, N.Y., will pay a total of $4.725m for Waldbaums locations in Selden and Great Neck, N.Y.; Pathmark stores in Islip, N.Y., West Babylon, N.Y., and Shirley, N.Y.; and the Food Emporium location on Greenwich Street in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood. (supermarketnews.com)
Israeli chain Shufersal moves to Q3 profit
Israel's largest supermarket chain, Shufersal, swung to a third-quarter net profit after changing strategy and implementing cost-cutting measures, the company said on Wednesday. Its profit was 47m shekels ($12m) versus a loss of 24m a year earlier. Revenue was flat at 3bn shekels. The company said it has been implementing an efficiency plan including reducing expenses, improving its terms vis-à-vis suppliers and promoting its private label. Same store sales rose 1.4%. (Reuters)
Siam Makro eager to enter Myanmar
Siam Makro Plc, the operator of Makro cash-and-carry stores under Charoen Pokphan Group, is keen to expand its retail business in Myanmar in the near future. (bangkokpost.com)
UK: Asda extends 'ugly' fruit and veg range
More ‘wonky’ fruit and vegetables will be sold in Asda stores after the retailer announced this week that its ‘Beautiful on the Inside’ range is to be extended. Misshaped sweet potatoes and garlic will soon be added to the range at the 25 participating stores across the UK, which already offer carrots, pears, apples and citrus fruits. In addition, the retailer has also said that the range of wonky fruit and vegetables, which are sold at reduced rates, will be extended further in 2016. Asda says that by selling inconsistently sized and ‘scruffier’ garlic and wonky sweet potatoes, it will save 10% of the crop from being wasted. (resource.co)
US: Niemann to acquire Covington Foods
Niemann Foods said it has agreed to purchase six County Market stores operated by Covington Foods, an acquisition that would expand Niemann to Indiana for the first time. (supermarketnews.com)
US: Whole Foods 4Q profit tumbles
Whole Foods reported a worse-than-expected decline in same-store sales during its fiscal fourth quarter on Wednesday, as the high-end grocer continues to face an increasingly competitive landscape. Shares of the company plunged 7% in after-hours trading. “In the face of increasing competition, we are not standing still,” said John Mackey, co-founder and co-CEO, in prepared remarks. Same-store sales fell 0.2% during the period ending September 27, shy of the 0.7% rise expected by analysts. This summer the company was found to have overcharged customers in New York City for certain pre-packaged products and admitted sales were getting hit in the fallout. Whole Foods also missed on its top and bottom line. Total sales during the quarter rose 6% to $3.44bn, but missed analyst estimates of $3.47bn. (forbes.com)
Whole Foods outlines steps to improve returns
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8,000 Italian municipalities 'may soon be without food stores'
The Italian retail sector has lost some 21,320 stores over the past four years, of which nearly half are in the food retail segment, according to data from the Italian Federation of Food Companies (Fiesa). During the period 2010-2014, food expenditure in Italy has decreased by 7.9%, impacting the sales network, the study found. Speaking during its Annual Assembly, the president of Fiesa, Gian Paolo Angelotti, warned that as many as 62% of 8,100 Italian municipalities are in danger of remaining without food shops. (esmmagazine.com)
UK: Supermarket food waste falling
According to The British Retail Consortium, which is one of the leading trade associations in the UK, the total amount of waste which occurred in supermarkets fell in 2014 to 180,000 tonnes, an improvement on the 200,000 tonnes of waste in 2013. (esmmagazine.com)
O’Key’s rally fading amid Russia retail competition, BCS says
The rally of the Russian food retailer O’Key that has rebounded 35% from a record low in September, is poised to lose momentum as sales and profit growth slows amid mounting competition from discounters and rising lease costs, according to BCS Financial Group. O’Key last week reported third-quarter sales that rose 7.9% from the same period last year, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization shrank 17% to 2.2bn rubles ($34.5m). (esmmagazine.com)
UK: Marks&Spencer sees sales fall again, food up
Marks&Spencer has reported another fall in sales as a revival in its women's fashion range failed to materialise. Overall like-for-like sales for M&S fell by 0.4% in the UK, although food sales rose by 0.2%. (bbc.com)
Romania: Mega Image expands with another 40 units this year
Mega Image will open until the end of the year almost 40 shops among which one in Baneasa, the marketing director of the company Adrian Nicolaescu said. Nicolaescu said that the strategy of the chain of supermarkets is to reach the clients at potential of expansion both in Bucharest and other cities, Mega Image aiming at the areas in the direction Brasov-Bucuresti-Constanta. (actmedia.eu)
Interesting links on retail:
Why supermarkets’ love of use-by dates leads to food waste
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The time is right for China's own Whole FoodsMarket
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Retail Safari: Boston
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