Lidl comes closer to e-commerce | Kennedy Wilson buys Spanish grocer
Albert Heijn (Ahold) launches first fully organic store
Sam’s Club has struggled for years with sluggish sales, and it now intends to take a tack that steers it away from its Walmart roots, The Wall Street Journal reports. The company wants to move away from mainstream consumers — households that earn $45,000 a year — and go more upscale to attract affluent shoppers, the report says. Organic food is one of the things Sam’s Club will add. (bizjournals.com)
US: Judge tells A&P, unions to resolve issues by Wednesday
A federal bankruptcy court judge on Monday gave Montvale-based A&P and its unions until Wednesday afternoon to resolve disagreements over severance pay and the rights of senior workers to “bump” those with less seniority as stores are shuttered, northjersey.com reports. The grocer asked Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, N.Y., for relief from both severance pay and seniority rights provisions in collective bargaining agreements, arguing that the relief was necessary to facilitate the sale of some of its stores and appease creditors as it winds down operations. But after hearing about two hours of testimony from union and company representatives, the judge called the lawyers into a closed-door conference, and about an hour and half later said he has directed the litigants to take more time to try to resolve their differences.
Supermarket chain A&P will fire 25,000 grocery workers
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Netherlands: Albert Heijn comes with first fully organic store
Meanwhile to spotlight its growing private label range of organic products, under the 'AH Biologische' name, Albert Heijn is set to open its first fully organic store, which will be added next to an existing store in Utrecht, igd.com reports. The retailer has previously opened an organic pop-up shop, but this will be its first permanent store for the brand, which will also carry premium, branded organic products. The 30 sq. m store will enable shoppers only looking for organic products to find and buy them more easily.
Africa: Shoprite meets profit estimates
Africa’s biggest retailer, met its profit estimates with a 10.8% rise in full-year earnings on Tuesday as it stole market share in its food business from rivals, bdlive.co.za reports. Shoprite said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 772.9c in the year ended June, in line with the 773c estimate by Thomson Reuters StarMine SmartEstimates.
Target CFO as Cornell continues to remake leadership team
Target Corp. CEO Brian Cornell took another big step in reshaping the company Monday by elevating CFO John Mulligan to a new role and reaching outside the company for his successor, startribune.com reports. Mulligan, a longtime Target executive who has been CFO since 2012 and was acting chief executive last year, was promoted to the new position of executive vice president and chief operating officer. Cornell hired Cathy Smith, a former executive for Express Scripts and Walmart, as Target’s chief financial officer, starting Sept. 1.
Lidl moves closer to Belgian web shop
German discounter Lidl has big e-commerce plans for the Low Countries and it has taken steps over the past few days towards that end. It has not revealed any definite starting date though, retaildetail.eu reports. In Belgium, Lidl has just joined BeCommerce, the association for companies that actively use online sales channels. The move is remarkable, as Lidl Belgium currently has no online sales channel. When asked, spokesperson Pieterjan Rynwalt did confirm that Lidl "has entered the next phase, in which we will thoroughly examine how we can organize [a web shop] and which products would fit such a strategy." According to the spokesperson for the German chain, the BeCommerce move should be considered to be an informative one: "As a member, we want to benefit from the knowledge inside the organization and to learn from the experiences of others."In the Netherlands, Lidl is looking for a "senior manager online", a position at its main office in Huizen. According to Twinkle, this person will "play an important role in the setup and expansion of Lidl Netherlands' e-commerce plans".
Kennedy Wilson acquires 16 Spanish supermarkets
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate has acquired a portfolio of 16 supermarkets in Spain for a combined €85.5m, uk.finance.yahoo.com reports. The group said the deal, which will be financed from its existing cash resources, comprises 11 Carrefour supermarkets and five Dia supermarkets, for a combined 593,000 square feet of space to let across seven high street stores and nine big box stores.
Dutch: Albert Heijn launches meal box solution in the Netherlands
Looking to build on the success of similar models globally, Albert Heijn has introduced the Allerhande meal box, which can be purchased through its online site for delivery to shoppers’ homes or at a collection point, igd.com reports. The retailer said that its customer magazine Allerhande has been helping people create new meals since it was first published over 60 years ago, with the new solution building on this inspiration. The Allerhande Box, which is rumoured to be priced at €35 for a two person box and €49 for a four person box, will provide all the ingredients and recipes for three meals.
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