Third Swiss go to Lidl or Aldi | Russia's X5 aims to double business
Woolworths in talks with buyout firms | Amazon Q2 straight profit
Key Food Stores on Wednesday confirmed its successful acquisition of 23 stores in the A&P bankruptcy auction, and said it would operate two of the units under corporate oversight, a first for the member-owned cooperative. (supermarketnews.com)
Amazon posts second straight profit
E-commerce company Amazon.com on Thursday recorded a surprise profit for the second quarter in a row, propelled by higher sales in North America. Sales in North America, the largest market for the world's biggest retailer, rose 28.3% to $15.01bn in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. For the latest quarter, Amazon reported a profit of $79m, compared with a loss of $437m, a year ago. Total net sales rose 23.2% to $25.36bn. (yahoo.com)
Russia's X5 says could double business
Russia's No.2 food retailer X5 said on Thursday it saw an opportunity to double its business in the next three to five years, taking advantage of cheaper rents and assets to maintain rapid growth. X5 has seen its sales growth accelerate this year following increased investments in its low-price Pyaterochka chain which proved increasingly popular with cash-strapped consumers as the rouble weakened and inflation picked up. "We see huge opportunity in the market. If we don't double our business in three to five years we would not be happy as the management," Stephan DuCharme, X5 Retail Group CEO, told investors and analysts. (Reuters)
AU: Woolworths in talks with buyout firms
Global buyout firms, including KKR & Co and TPG Capital, have made preliminary approaches to Woolworths to express interest in its Big W discount store chain, people with knowledge of the matter said. The private-equity firms have held early talks with Woolworths, as the retailer reviews its operations after its CEO announced retirement plans in June, according to the people. The Big W chain could be valued at about $1.5bn, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. (smh.com.au)
Mexican Soriana to exclude stores from La Comer deal
Soriana and La Comer have agreed to the conditions imposed upon them by Cofece, in relation to the acquisition of La Comer stores. Soriana has agreed to the condition that it must not acquire, or subsequently divest, 26 of the stores involved in the transaction. Of those 26, 14 will be excluded from the transaction and retained by the new breakaway company. (igd.com)
Russia: Perekrestok continues rebranding Soseddushka stores
Perekrestok, part of X5 Retail Group, continues to open new Perekrestok and Pyaterochka stores as part of the program of rebranding supermarkets acquired from the Soseddushka chain, reports malls.ru. According to a press release the company have just opened their 4th Perekrestok supermarket in Orenburg and the remaining stores will be rebranded as Pyaterochka. Perekrestok occupies the leading position in the Russian retail market for the supermarket format. According to data from the 3rd quarter, 451 stores are under the company's management, in 108 towns in Russia.
Every third Swiss consumer shops at Lidl or Aldi
Ten years ago Aldi discounter stores arrived in Switzerland. And according to a survey only 24% of the Swiss have never been to an Aldi store. The fear of a price war with Migros and Coop was serious, however, it didn’t happen. Even though Aldi and Lidl arrived in Switzerland respectively in 2005 and 2009. In the mean time, as shown by a representative survey by the marketing research institute Link, 8% of the Swiss consumers shop at the German discounters at least once a week. 12% visit the store two or three times per month and 14% of the consumers once a month. (20min.ch)
Auchan launches first chain of convenience stores in Russia
French retailer Auchan has started developing its first convenience store chain in Russia as part of its expansion in the country, the Vedomosti newspaper reported Thursday. Auchan has already opened four convenience stores in Moscow under the name Kazhdy Den (Every Day), Auchan Russia's CEO told Vedomosti, adding that the retailer's own-brand products will account for about half of the stores' range of items.(themoscowtimes.com)
Irish Supermarkets 'failing farmers'
Supermarkets are not doing enough to sustain, promote and support Northern Ireland farmers and producers, according to the Assembly's Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development. At a meeting this week, the committee called on major supermarket chains to give farmers here a better deal, and questioned representatives from Asda and Tesco on a range of current concerns, including polices on payments and credit terms. (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)
UK: Family spending power increases in September
According to the latest Asda Income Tracker for September, discretionary incomes – the income left after taxes and essentials like rent, utilities and bills have been deducted – increased £18 on the same period last year. (talkingretail.com)
AU: Coles expands market share
Coles has gained more sales and shoppers, and with them more market share, amid an intensifying price war with Woolworths and Aldi. Price cuts across a range of items at Coles supermarkets helped push up food and liquor sales by 4.7% to $7.6bn during the first quarter of the 2016 financial year. Comparable food and liquor sales rose 3.6% in the three months to the end of September, however the pace of growth is not as strong as a year ago. (yahoo.com)
AU: 7-Eleven faces $300M wage bill
7-Eleven could face a $300m compensation wages bill after the Allan Fels-chaired panel released the first tranche of payments to exploited workers. It can be revealed the panel led by the former competition tsar has 50 claimants owed $1.1m in underpaid wages, equivalent to $22,300 a claimant. (smh.com.au)
Supermarket monopoly in Serbia leads to higher consumer price
The expansion of the supermarket and hypermarket sector in Serbia over the past 15 years has not brought benefits to consumers or small farmers, but only contributed to cementing existing monopolies. These are the main conclusions of the agricultural forum “Food for Europe”. An analysis by Serbia's Economic Institute for the period 2000-2012 reveals a significant increase in retail prices of many product categories. For example, prices of apples and chicken went up by 83%; potatoes by 87%; beans by 106%. At the same time, local agricultural products have reportedly lost value. (esmmagazine.com)
Best and worst supermarkets in South Africa
Satisfaction with local supermarkets has dropped significantly, according to a new survey published by the South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi). A sample of 2,059 customers surveyed found that the average industry score was 4.9 index points lower (at 75.7) than the satisfaction recorded in September 2014 (80.6). The brands measured included South Africa’s largest shopping retailers: Woolworths, Shoprite, Checkers, Pick n Pay and Spar. Woolworths topped the list with a score of 80.7 out of 100, giving the brand leadership position for the second year in a row. The other brands scored on par with the industry average. Shoprite and Checkers both scored 77.1 out of 100, ahead of Pick n Pay (76.2), while Spar was last with a score of 75.7 out of 100. (businesstech.co.za)
Tesco ditches Deutsche Bank
Tesco has parted company with Deutsche Bank after 17 years as corporate broker as part of the continued shake-up at the retailer following last year's £263m fraud. The supermarket giant has instead hired Citigroup to work with existing broker Barclays, following what is understood to have been an extensive pitch process. (telegraph.co.uk)