Smart & Final eyes return to normal growth plan

After acquiring 33 supermarkets from Haggen last year, Smart & Final still sees the opportunity for 100 more new stores in California, Dave Hirz, president and CEO of Smart & Final, told SN. “When we went public at the end of 2014, we told the Street we thought there were about 100 [potential new] locations in California,” he said. “Now after a couple of years of big growth — 20 stores in 2015, and then 33 stores last year — there are still over 100 locations available, just because we have learned we can put stores a little closer together than we thought we would need to.” (supermarketnews.com) 

Sainsbury's cautioned that cost price pressures would weigh on its business this year due to the devaluation of the pound. It has driven up import costs which, combined with commodity price fluctuations, is making life harder for Britain's supermarkets. "When we talk about uncertainty those factors weigh very heavily on underlying cost prices and therefore retail prices," Sainsbury's CEO said. "We would acknowledge that we've gone from an environment which has been deflationary for two and a half years to being inflationary," he said. He added that the market remains very competitive and the impact of cost price pressures remains uncertain. (Reuters / news.sky.com)

Empire Co., the parent company of Sobeys, has reported a slight profit for its fiscal second quarter, reversing last year’s loss related to a writedown. However, on an underlying basis, results were markedly low and the group’s new CEO admitted that it had a lot of work to do. For the three months to 4 February 2017, it reported a net profit of C$30.5m, compared to a loss of C$1.37bn. However, on an underlying basis, profits fell by 58.1% to C$34.6m and revenue was down 2.3% to C$5.89bn. (kamcity.com) 

FreshDirect, a northeast online fresh food retailer, has expanded its service to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. FreshDirect will start delivering groceries including farm-fresh produce in D.C., Arlington and McLean, Virginia and Bethesda, Maryland beginning April 5th, 2017. (groceryheadquarters.com)

Walmart is canceling its plans to build a 1.2m square foot warehouse on the Southside of Merced. The company said the retail industry has changed. Walmart first announced its plans to build the distribution center in 2005, but the city says a lawsuit filed immediately by the Merced Alliance for Responsible Growth caused the project to lose steam. (abc30.com)

Tesco Kipa has secured a 70m lira ($19.20m) loan from Rabobank. The loan agreement is in the scope of a previously signed agreement between parent company Migros and Rabobank for up to 170m lira. Through the agreement, Kipa becomes a party to the loan agreement between Migros and Robabank. The loan under the guarantee of Migros will be used for the general cash needs of Migros and Company, such as a short-term investment and operating capital, that may arise in the future. (Reuters)

Keshia Walvin, Senior Retail Analyst at grocery research organisation IGD, outlines the five key trends she expects to shape the Western European grocery market and influence retailer strategy over the next 12 months. Please, click here to read the article at esmmagazine.com.