Asda wonky veg boxes to be in more stores | Lidl Romania expands
Save-A-Lot to leave California and Nevada
In a project, to be launched this week, Oxford University scientists will work with Sainsbury’s executives in a programme that will see supermarkets redesigned. Proposals include: placing vegetarian alternatives on the same shelves as meat products; giving vouchers and loyalty points to shoppers who choose vegetarian products; and providing recipes and leaflets that outline how shoppers can eat less meat. (theguardian.com)
Save-A-Lot exiting Nevada and California
Save-A-Lot is leaving the states of California and Nevada, a move that will affect 13 company-owned locations, a retailer-owned store and a distribution center in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The Earth City-based discount grocery chain said a timeline for the closures has not been set but markdowns began Friday. (stltoday.com)
Wonky veg boxes expected to reach more Asda stores
Asda’s hugely popular wonky veg boxes are expected to reach more stores in the UK this week. Wonk veg boxes, voted as the Product of the Year for Healthy Food, has been a huge attraction ever since it was introduced. Each box contains five kilo grams of fresh produce and was initiated as a part of Asda’s mission to cut food waste. To date more than 120,000 boxes have been sold. (internationalsupermarketnews.com)
Maxima Grupė acquires e-commerce company Barbora
Lithuanian retail chain Maxima Grupė has announced that it has acquired Barbora, the country's largest e-commerce company for food and groceries. The group emphasised that Barbora's independence will not be affected by the €1.4m transaction, and that the company will keep its current management team, working in collaboration with the Maxima-affiliated e-commerce companies in Latvia and Estonia. (esmmagazine.com)
Carrefour to close 3 stores in Italy and cut 500 jobs
French supermarket chain Carrefour has informed unions of its plan to restructure operations in Italy, with the closure of three stores and the loss of 500 jobs. According to the joint statement made by the Filcams, Fisascat and UILTuCS unions, Carrefour’s arguments for the restructuring plans have highlighted significant issues regarding business trends, such as sales, cost of labour and profitability, adding that hypermarkets are particularly penalized. (esmmagazine.com)
AU: Canberra-based supermarket chain Supabarn scales down
Canberra independent supermarket chain Supabarn has sold its wholesale operations to a company seeking to become the country's biggest food and grocery wholesaler. The family-owned Supabarn had nine supermarkets across the ACT and NSW and two development sites until last year. Supabarn sought to sell most of its stores to the country's No.2 chain, Coles, but last year the competition regulator rejected that deal in favour of allowing Coles to buy five Supabarn supermarkets: three in Canberra and two in NSW. (watoday.com.au)
US: Publix faces unprecedented competition from rivals
Publix Super Markets, faces the most competitive environment in its history as rivals expand their presence in the Florida. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Lakeland-based Publix has gradually lost market share to Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s, The Fresh Market and to grocers that recently entered the Florida market, including Lucky’s Market and Sprouts Farmers Market. (therealdeal.com)
Italy’s Unicoop Tirreno to close 12 supermarkets
Italian regional cooperative and retailer Unicoop Tirreno has announced the closure of 12 supermarkets and the sale of another eight stores, resulting in the loss of 481 full-time jobs. The first goal of the 2017-2019 business plan is to halve losses by the end of 2017, reducing management costs while better targeting product sectors to recover market share. (esmmagazine.com)
Lidl to open more stores in Romania
In Romania food retail market leader Schwarz group has 195 Lidl discount stores and 112 Kaufland hypermarkets. Lidl announced that it will open 10-15 new stores per year in Romania. The ultimate goal is to present a network of 200 stores. (internationalsupermarketnews.com)
Possibility of Hubert Joly as Carrefour CEO 'strong positive': Bernstein
Research firm Bernstein has said that the possibility of Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly taking over as Carrefour CEO, as recently reported by Brazilian newspaper Valor, would be a 'strong positive for the stock'. Joly has had a 'successful tenure' as Best Buy CEO, Bernstein said, increasing the stock price from $13 to $40 or $50 since 2012. Facing strong competition from Amazon, Best Buy was able to weather the storm, matching price but differentiating service. (esmmagazine.com)
US: Whole Foods Market bringing value format to Northeast
Whole Foods Market has announced the first Northeast location for its streamlined and value-oriented 365 by Whole Foods Market concept. The retailer will open a 365 store in Brooklyn, New York, in the Fort Greene neighborhood. (chainstoreage.com)
Carrefour Belgium expands online delivery service
Carrefour Belgium will boost the number of click-and-collect points it operates from 84 to roughly 180, as well as extend its Belgian home delivery network, over the course of 2017. It also wants to speed up home deliveries and increase the number of time-windows available to its online shoppers, a release said. (esmmagazine.com)
Deloitte Survey: Schwarz top among European Retailers, Tesco ranks ninth
German group Schwarz, the company which owns retail chains Kaufland and Lidl became the top European retailer in a study conducted by financial firm Deloitte. The study “Global Powers of Retailing 2017,” ranks Schwarz as the fourth largest retailer in the world, and first among European organizations. Please, click here to read at internationalsupermarketnews.com.
Budgens may close stores after poor sales
Twelve Budgens stores face closure after owner The Food Retailer Operations launched a company voluntary arrangement less than a year after it bought 36 shops from the Co-op. The outlets, previously bought by the Co-op as part of its deal to acquire the Somerfield supermarket business, were sold to The Food Retailer Operations in May last year and quickly re-branded as Budgens. A company statement said: “Due to disappointing trading results, the board of The Food Retailer Operations has launched a company voluntary arrangement. (talkingretail.com)
Tesco voted as the most improved supermarket in UK
The UK Customer Satisfaction Index has voted Supermarket Tesco as the most improved grocery story in the country. The index, which is published twice a year, is conducted among of 10,000 shoppers. UK’s biggest supermarket chain Tesco was ranked most improving in the survey, thanks to the helpfulness of the staff and improved quality. Ecommerce giant Amazon topped the table for being number 1 in customer satisfaction. (internationalsupermarketnews.com)
US: CEO says Tops to move headquarters, offers room to grow
The decision by Tops Markets LLC to shift its corporate headquarters to a new Amherst location could result in the supermarket chain adding more people once the move is completed next year. (bizjournals.com)