Tesco/Asda/Morrisons register more declines, Sainsbury's grows

US: 7-Eleven completes acquisition of Tedeschi Food Shops
7-Eleven has completed the acquisition of around 180 Tedeschi Food Shops, a deal that adds to its existing 150 stores in the greater Boston and southern New Hampshire area, kamcity.com reports. The acquisition is part of the c-store giant’s accelerated growth plan. 7-Eleven noted: “The Tedeschi Food Shops stores complement our 7-Eleven store operations in the greater Boston area because of their geographical locations, food service focus, community-involved franchisees and commitment to serving their neighbourhoods”.

US: Marsh partners with Instacart for grocery delivery service
Marsh Supermarkets announced Tuesday that it is partnering with Instacart, a grocery delivery service, to bring the ability to deliver groceries to Indianapolis, theindychannel.com reports. This comes a few days after Kroger expanded a similar service in the city. The difference between these plans from supermarkets is that Kroger's isn't a delivery service. (theindychannel.com)

UK: Sainsbury's sales grow as Aldi and Lidl continue to prosper
Sales at Sainsbury's rose 0.1% compared to last year in the 12 weeks to August 16, although this was behind the wider sector's growth of 0.9%, with the pace set by discounters Aldi and Lidl. The continued advance of the German-owned stores saw their market shares rise to 5.6% and 4.1% in the period, together accounting for nearly £1 in every £10 spent in the British grocery market, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel. Asda, which has swapped second and third places with Sainsbury's in recent months, saw total sales fall 2.5% as its market share shrank to 16.6%, 0.6% lower than last year. It comes after the Leeds-based grocer reported earlier this month that it had hit a "nadir" with a worst-ever quarterly like-for-like sales fall of 4.7% over the 11 weeks to June 30. In the latest Kantar data, Sainsbury's sales growth was its first since March, but its market share was 0.1% lower at 16.4%. Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket, saw sales fall 0.9% as its market share fell by 0.5% to 28.3%. Sales at Bradford-based Morrisons slipped 1.1% as its portion of the sector dipped by 0.2% to 10.8%. Aldi saw sales rise 18% and Lidl picked up by 12.8%, but the performance of the larger chains held back the wider sector to 0.9%. (bqlive.co.uk)


Source: Kantar Worldpanel / IGD

Carrefour stores in Brazil donate products
Carrefour is putting its retail expertise to good use, as well as the skills of its employees, helping with initiatives designed to tackle food waste. Via the scheme, nearly 143 Carrefour stores which have partnered the 34 Food Bank branches in Brazil donate products which are nearing their expiry dates. These are removed from the shelves every morning (fruit, vegetables, fresh produce, grocery products, etc.) and are sorted by employees who have been trained in the process. (eprretailnews.com)

Retailers invest in produce to thwart competition
With consumers increasingly focused on the perimeter, many retailers are making investments in the produce department as a way to differentiate their offerings or simply bring shoppers into the store. Other retailers have been playing catch up as competition in produce heats up. The Fresh Market, for example, has worked to lower produce prices after seeing too much of a price gap over its competitors’ prices. Interim CEO Sean Crane told investors last week that the retailer had made efforts to close the gap in the previous quarter. Please, click here to read more at supermarketnews.com.

US: Tops posts comp gains in 2Q
Declining fuel prices triggered an overall sales decrease, but same-store sales and profitability improved for Tops Markets during the fiscal second quarter, according to parent company Tops Holding II Corp. The retailer, based in Williamsville, N.Y., recorded an inside sales improvement of 1.2% to $544.6m and same-store sales of 1.4%, sparked by newly acquired stores, and a shift in the Easter holiday, officials said. Overall revenues were down by 1.7% to $585.9m, reflecting a decrease in fuel prices. Profits as percent of sales increased a full percentage point to 29%, reflecting more profitable fuel sales and a healthier margin mix. (supermarketnews.com)

France Delhaize stops displaying longest expiry dates at the back of shelves
Employees at Delhaize will be asked not to put products that expire at the latest date at the back of the shelves. Taking this anti-wasting measure could decrease the brand’s financial losses. Roel Dekelver, Spokesperson for Delhaize says that such a measure is not being forced on their employees, but is on a list of advice on how to waste less. Only food with short consumption periods will be be concerned, food which does not keep more than 4 or 5 days. “From experience, we have noted that is a natural reflex to look for products with the longest consumption date. It is completely normal, but it is a phenomenon we would like to limit”. Delhaize is trying to limit wastage by cutting down on packaging and giving unsold produce to food banks. “Since not long ago, we have also been selling ‘ugly vegetables’. As we have lots of fresh produce, such policies are essential”.

US: Publix eyes $34M distribution center
Publix supermarkets could build a new $34m distribution center in Birmingham, bizjournals.com reports. According to Fox 6, the Jefferson County Commission said today the popular supermarket chain plans to build the facility at the Jefferson Metropolitan Industrial Park in McCalla.

China: Alibaba CEO urges workers to ignore share plunge
Alibaba Group’s chief executive officer exhorted employees Tuesday to ignore plunging stock markets after the e-commerce giant’s shares fell below their initial public offering price for the first time. Daniel Zhang, who took the helm of Asia’s largest Internet company three months ago, penned a memo urging his 35,000 workers to brush aside the market turmoil. Alibaba has lost about $128bn in market value since its November peak amid a slowing Chinese economy.“This is not the first time that the global stock market has plunged,” Zhang wrote in the e-mail. “It is not the last time, either. I hope everyone can shift the focus from the stock market to customers.” (esmmagazine.com)

Edeka wins award for annual report
The League of American Communication Professionals (LACP) has awarded German retailer Edeka with a Platinum award for its Annual Report in its annual 'Vision Awards'. The retailer achieved 99 out of a possible 100 at the awards, earning it the honour in the 'Retailing – Food & Speciality' category. (esmmagazine.com)

US: SpartanNash says it's 'proactive' on acquisitions
SpartanNash is taking a proactive stance on acquisitions now that its integration activities are behind it, company officials told investors. “We clearly believe in the consolidation of [retail] space, and the [current] environments will help us accelerate that phenomenon,” Dave Staples, EVP and COO, said. “We would like to have a more normalized pace of acquisitions, so in the next 12- to 18-month period, we’d like to be doing an acquisition of some type — whether it’s a $500-million entity or $1bn to $1.5bn. (supermarketnews.com)

World Bank continues to finance Lidl Kaufland expansion in Romania
Lidl and Kaufland expansion in Romania, continues to be supported by the World Bank. The supermarket chains, which are both owned by Schwarz Group, will receive €60m for their expansion in the Romanian market, romania-insider.com reports.

UK: Ocado announce plans for new delivery hub
Online supermarket Ocado has announced plans for a new 43,254 square foot delivery hub in Tongwell creating 250 new permanent jobs.The fully refurbished building will be home to 111 of Ocado’s vans when it opens on 11th November 2015. (onemk.co.uk)

Kenya's Uchumi Supermarkets appoints new CEO
Kenya's Uchumi Supermarkets has appointed a new chief executive to start in October after firing the previous CEO, Reuters reports. Julius Kipngetich, now Chief Operating Officer at Equity Bank and previously director of the Kenya Wildlife Service, had been appointed, Uchumi's media consultant Kepha Bosire told Reuters. Former CEO, Jonathan Ciano, who helped revive Uchumi in 2006 when it was put into receivership and given a government-led bailout, was ousted along with the chief finance officer after the chain fell behind on supplier payments.

Dutch Jumbo ‘outperforms’ the market in H1
Netherlands-based Jumbo’s first half results shows, it says, that it has outperformed the market, with organic growth of 1.2% outstripping the 0.7% it said that the wider grocery industry had advanced during the first six months of the year, igd.com reports. Jumbo said that total turnover rose at its Jumbo banner by 26% to €3.16bn, with this driven by the conversion of 79 C1000 stores to fascia, while at a company level turnover reached €3.56bn due to not all C1000 stores having been converted.

Gulf private equity firms battle for Saudi supermarket Al Raya
Three of the Gulf's biggest private equity firms are battling it out for a majority stake in Saudi supermarket chain Al Raya for Foodstuff Co, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday, with a deal likely worth as much as $300m, Reuters reports. Abraaj Group, Fajr Capital and Gulf Capital are in the running to acquire the stake in the grocer being sold by Dubai-based Levant Capital and The Rohatyn Group (TRG). These three lodged initial bids in late July and are now due to file more comprehensive proposals before the deadline for second-round bids in the next two weeks, the sources added.

China: CR Vanguard reports H1 profit plummet
CR Vanguard, retail division of China Resources Enterprise, reports a 16.3% increase in turnover in its first half to US$7,888m with a loss of US$367m, down from a US$56.6m profit in H1 2014, igd.com reports. These disappointing results reflect a variety of forces including a slowdown in the economy, increased operational expenses and the ongoing integration of stores following CR Vanguard's joint venture with Tesco. Turnover and loss contributed by the Tesco's China operations was US$1,181m and US$36.5m respectively.

US: Columbus clerks ratify new Kroger contract
Kroger Co., Cincinnati, said Tuesday members of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1059 have ratified a new labor contract that covers more than 12,000 employees in the metropolitan Columbus, Ohio, area. (supermarketnews.com)

Interesting articles about retail:

One number that shows why Costco wholesale corporation is the best retailer around
Please, click here to read the article.


Union, buyers expect to save many A&P jobs
Please, click here to read the article.